COUNSEL 
FOR  THE 
DEFENSE 


•I 


COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 


fflTCT.  OF  CALIF-  UBBAK,  WS 


,      : 


Counsel  for  the  Defense 

By 

Leroy  Scott 

Author  of 

"The  Shears  of  Destiny,"  "To  Him  That  Hath," 
"The  Walking  Delegate" 


Frontispiece  by 
Charles  M.  Chapman 


GARDEN  CITY        NEW  YORK 

DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

1912 


Copyright,  1911,  1912,  by 
LEROY  SCOTT 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of 

translation  into  foreign  languages, 

including  the  Scandinavian 


TO 

HELEN 


2132770 


PRINCIPAL  CHARACTERS 

KATHERINE  WEST. 

DR.  DAVID  WEST,  her  father. 

ARNOLD  BRUCE,  editor  of  the  Express. 

HARRISON  BLAKE,  ex-lieutenant-governor. 

MRS.  BLAKE,  his  mother. 

"BLIND  CHARLIE"  PECK,  a  political  boss. 

HOSEA  HOLLINGSWORTH,  an  old  attorney. 

BILLY  HARPER,  reporter  on  the  Express. 

THE  REVEREND  DR.  SHERMAN,  of  the 
Wabash  Avenue  Church. 

MRS.  SHERMAN,  his  wife. 
MRS.  RACHEL  GRAY,  Katherine's  aunt. 
ROGER  KENNEDY,  prosecuting  attorney. 
JUDGE  KELLOG. 

MR.  BROWN,  of  the  National  Electric  & 
Water  Company. 

MR.  MANNING,  a  detective. 
ELIJAH  STONE,  a  detective. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Westville  Prepares  to  Celebrate  3 

II.  The  Bubble  Reputation .      .      .  15 

III.  Katherine  Comes  Home       .      .  30 

IV.  Doctor  West's  Lawyer    ...  49 
V.  Katherine  Prepares  for  Battle  63 

VI.  The  Lady  Lawyer     ....  80 

VII.  The  Mask  Falls   .....  98 

VIII.  The  Editor  of  the  Express    .      .116 

IX.  The  Price  of  a  Man  .      .      .      .  131 

X.  Sunset  at  The  Sycamores     .     .  146 

XI.  The  Trial 158. 

XII.  Opportunity  Knocks  at  Bruce's 

Door 172 

XIII.  The  Deserter 191 

XIV.  The  Night  Watch     .      .      .      .  212 
XV.  Politics    Make    Strange    Bed- 
fellows           226 

XVI.  Through  The  Storm        .      .      .  240 

XVII.  The  Cup  of  Bliss 250 

XVIII.  The  Candidate  and  the  Tiger   .  264 

XIX.  When  Greek  Meets  Greek   .      .  276 


CONTENTS 


XX.  A  Spectre  Comes  to  Town  . 

XXI.  Bruce  to  the  Front    . 

XXII.  The  Last  Stand    .      .      .      . 

XXIII.  At  Elsie's  Bedside     .      .      . 

XXIV.  Billy  Harper  Writes  a  Story 
XXV.  Katherine  Faces  the  Enemy 

XXVI.  An  Idol's  Fall      .      .      .      . 

XXVII.  The  End  of  The  Beginning 


295 


328 

346 
368 
388 

403 
418 


COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 


WESTVILLE  PREPARES  TO  CELEBRATE 

THE  room  was  thick  with  dust  and 
draped  with  ancient  cobwebs.  In 
one  corner  dismally  reposed  a  literary 
junk  heap  —  old  magazines,  broken-backed 
works  of  reference,  novels  once  unanimously 
read  but  now  unanimously  forgotten.  The  desk 
was  a  helter-skelter  of  papers.  One  of  the  two 
chairs  had  its  burst  cane  seat  mended  by  an  atlas 
of  the  world;  and  wherever  any  of  the  floor 
peered  dimly  through  the  general  debris  it  showed 
a  complexion  of  dark  and  ineradicable  greasi- 
ness.  Altogether,  it  was  a  room  hopelessly  un- 
fit for  human  habitation;  which  is  perhaps  but 
an  indirect  manner  of  stating  that  it  was  the 
office  of  the  editor  of  a  successful  newspaper. 
Before  a  typewriter  at  a  small  table  sat  a 
bare-armed,  solitary  man.  He  was  twenty- 
eight  or  thirty,  abundantly  endowed  with  bone 

and   muscle,  and  with  a  face But  not   to 

soil  this  early  page  with  abusive  terms,  it  will 

3 


4      COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

be  sufficient  to  remark  that  whatever  the 
Divine  Sculptor  had  carved  his  countenance 
to  portray,  plainly  there  had  been  no  thought 
of  re-beautifying  the  earth  with  an  Apollo. 
He  was  constructed  not  for  grace,  but  powerful, 
tireless  action;  and  there  was  something  ab- 
surdly disproportionate  between  the  small  ma- 
chine and  the  broad  and  hairy  hands  which 
so  heavily  belaboured  its  ladylike  keys. 

It  was  a  custom  with  Bruce  to  write  the  big 
local  news  story  of  the  day  himself,  a  feature 
that  had  proved  a  stimulant  to  his  paper's 
circulation  and  prestige.  To-morrow  was  to 
be  one  of  the  proudest  days  of  Westville's 
history,  for  to-morrow  was  the  formal  opening 
of  the  city's  greatest  municipal  enterprise,  its 
thoroughly  modern  water-works;  and  it  was 
an  extensive  and  vivid  account  of  the  next 
day's  programme  that  the  editor  was  pounding 
so  rapidly  out  of  his  machine  for  that  afternoon's 
issue  of  the  Express.  Now  and  then,  as  he 
paused  an  instant  to  shape  an  effective  sentence 
in  his  mind,  he  glanced  through  the  open  window 
beside  him  across  Main  Street  to  where,  against 
the  front  of  the  old  Court  House,  a  group  of 
shirt-sleeved  workmen  were  hanging  their  coun- 
try's colours  about  a  speakers'  stand;  then  his 
big,  blunt  fingers  thumped  swiftly  on. 

He  had  jerked  out  the  final  sheet,  and  had 
begun  to  revise  his  story,  making  corrections 


WESTVILLE  PREPARES  TO  CELEBRATE  5 

with  a  very  black  pencil  and  in  a  very  large 
hand,  when  there  sauntered  in  from  the  general 
editorial  room  a  pale,  slight  young  man  of 
twenty-five.  The  newcomer  had  a  reckless 
air,  a  humorous  twist  to  the  left  corner  of  his 
mouth,  and  a  negligent  smartness  in  his  dress 
which  plainly  had  its  origin  elsewhere  than  in 
Westville. 

The  editor  did  not  raise  his  eyes. 

"In  a  minute,  Billy,"  he  said  shortly. 

"Nothing  to  hurry  about,  Arn,"  drawled 
the  other. 

The  young  fellow  drew  forward  the  atlas- 
bottomed  chair,  leisurely  enthroned  himself 
upon  the  nations  of  the  earth,  crossed  his  feet 
upon  the  window-sill,  and  lit  a  cigarette. 
About  his  lounging  form  there  was  a  latent 
energy  like  that  of  a  relaxed  eat.  He  gazed 
rather  languidly  over  at  the  Square,  its  sides 
abustle  with  excited  preparation.  Across  the 
fronts  of  stores  bunting  was  being  tacked; 
from  upper  windows  crisp  cotton  flags  were 
being  unscrolled.  As  for  the  Court-House  yard 
itself,  to-day  its  elm-shaded  spaces  were  lifeless 
save  for  the  workmen  about  the  stand,  a  litigant 
or  two  going  up  the  walk,  and  an  occasional 
frock-coated  lawyer,  his  vest  democratically 
unbuttoned  to  the  warm  May  air.  But  to- 
morrow   

The  young  fellow  had  turned  his  head  slowly 


6      COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

toward  the  editor's  copy,  and,  as  though  reading, 
he  began  in  an  emotional,  declamatory  voice : 

"To-morrow  the  classic  shades  of  Court 
House  Square  will  teem  with  a  tumultuous 
throng.  In  the  emblazoned  speakers'  stand 
the  Westville  Brass  Band,  in  their  new  uni- 
forms, glittering  like  so  many  grand  marshals 
of  the  empire,  will  trumpet  forth  triumphant 
music  fit  to  burst;  and  aloft  from  this  breeze- 
fluttered  throne  of  oratory " 

"Go  to  hell!"  interrupted  Bruce,  eyes  still 
racing  through  his  copy. 

"And  down  from  this  breeze-fluttered  throne 
of  oratory,"  continued  Billy,  with  a  rising  quaver 
in  his  voice,  "Mr.  Harrison  Blake,  Westville's 
favourite  son;  the  Reverend  Doctor  Sherman, 
president  of  the  Voters'  Union,  and  the  Hon- 
ourable Hiram  Cogshell,  Galloway  County's 
able-bodiest  orator,  will  pour  forth  prodigal  and 
perfervid  eloquence  upon  the  populace  below. 
And  Dr.  David  West,  he  who  has  directed 
this  magnificent  work  from  its  birth  unto  the 
present,  he  who  has  laid  upon  the  sacred  altar 
of  his  city's  welfare  a  matchless  devotion  and 
a  lifetime's  store  of  scientific  knowledge,  he 
who-  -" 

"See  here,  young  fellow!"  The  editor 
slammed  down  the  last  sheet  of  his  revised  story, 
and  turned  upon  his  assistant  a  square,  bony, 
aggressive  face  that  gave  a  sense  of  having 


WESTVILLE  PREPARES  TO  CELEBRATE   7 

been  modelled  by  a  clinched  fist,  and  of  still 
glowering  at  the  blow.  He  had  gray  eyes 
that  gleamed  dogmatically  from  behind  thick 
glasses,  and  hair  that  brush  could  not  subdue. 
"See  here,  Billy  Harper,  will  you  please  go 
to  hell!" 

"Sure;  follow  you  anywhere,  Arn,"  returned 
Billy  pleasantly,  holding  out  his  cigarette  case. 

"You  little  Chicago  alley  cat,  you!"  growled 
Bruce.  He  took  a  cigarette,  broke  it  open 
and  poured  the  tobacco  into  a  black  pipe, 
which  he  lit.  "Well  —  turn  up  anything?" 

"Governor  can't  come,"  replied  the  reporter, 
lighting  a  fresh  cigarette. 

"Hard  luck.  But  we'll  have  the  crowd 
anyhow.  Blake  tell  you  anything  else?" 

"He  didn't  tell  me  that.  His  stenographer 
did;  she'd  opened  the  Governor's  telegram. 
Blake's  in  Indianapolis  to-day  —  looking  after 
his  chances  for  the  Senate,  I  suppose." 

"See    Doctor   West?" 

"Went  to  his  house  first.  But  as  usual  he 
wouldn't  say  a  thing.  That  old  boy  is  cer- 
tainly the  mildest  mannered  hero  of  the  day 
I  ever  went  up  against.  The  way  he  does 
dodge  the  spot-light!  —  it's  enough  to  make 
one  of  your  prima  donna  politicians  die  of 
heart  failure.  To  do  a  great  piece  of  work, 
and  then  be  as  modest  about  it  as  he  is  —  well, 
Arn,  I  sure  am  for  that  old  doc!" 


8      COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Huh!"    grunted    the    editor. 

"When  it  comes  time  to  hang  the  laurel 
wreath  upon  his  brow  to-morrow  I'll  bet  you 
and  your  spavined  old  Arrangements  Com- 
mittee will  have  to  push  him  on  to  the  stand 
by  the  scruff  of  his  neck." 

"Did  you  get  him  to  promise  to  sit  for  a  new 
picture?" 

"Yes.  And  you  ought  to  raise  me  ten  a 
week  for  doing  it.  He  didn't  want  his  picture 
printed;  and  if  we  did  print  it,  he  thought  that 
prehistoric  thing  of  the  eighties  we've  got  was 
good  enough." 

"Well,  be  sure  you  get  that  photo,  if  you 
have  to  use  chloroform.  I  saw  him  go  into 
the  Court  House  a  little  while  ago.  Better 
catch  him  as  he  comes  out  and  lead  him  over 
to  Dodson's  gallery." 

"All  right."  The  young  fellow  recrossed 
his  feet  upon  the  window-sill.  "But,  Arn," 
he  drawled,  "this  certainly  is  a  slow  old  burg 
you've  dragged  me  down  into.  If  one  of  your 
leading  citizens  wants  to  catch  the  seven- 
thirty  to  Indianapolis  to-morrow  morning,  I 
suppose  he  sets  his  alarm  to  go  off  day  before 
yesterday." 

"What's  soured  on  your  stomach  now?" 
demanded  the  editor. 

"Oh,  the  way  it  took  this  suburb  of  No- 
where thirty  years  to  wake  up  to  Doctor  West! 


WESTVILLE  PREPARES  TO  CELEBRATE  9 

Every  time  I  see  him  I  feel  sore  for  hours 
afterward  at  how  this  darned  place  has  treated 
the  old  boy.  If  your  six-cylinder,  sixty-horse 
power,  seven-passenger  tongues  hadn't  remem- 
bered that  his  grandfather  had  founded  West- 
ville,  I  bet  you'd  have  talked  him  out  of  the 
town  long  ago." 

"The  town   didn't  understand  him." 

"I  should  say  it  didn't!"  agreed  the  reporter. 

"And  I  guess  you  don't  understand  the 
town,"  said  the  editor,  a  little  sharply.  "Young 
man,  you've  never  lived  in  a  small  place." 

"Till  this,  Chicago  was  my  smallest  —  the 
gods  be  praised!" 

"Well,  it's  the  same  in  your  old  smokestack 
of  the  universe  as  it  is  here!"  retorted  Bruce. 
"If  you  go  after  the  dollar,  you're  sane.  If 
you  don't,  you're  cracked.  Doctor  West 
started  off  like  a  winner,  so  they  say;  looked 
like  he  was  going  to  get  a  corner  on  all  the 
patients  of  Westville.  Then,  when  he  stopped 
practising " 

"You  never  told  me  what  made  him  stop." 

"His  wife's  death  —  from  typhoid;  I  barely 
remember  that.  When  he  stopped  practising 
and  began  his  scientific  work,  the  town  thought 
he'd  lost  his  head." 

"And  yet  two  years  ago  the  town  was  glad 
enough  to  get  him  to  take  charge  of  installing 
its  new  water  system!" 


io  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"That's  how  it  discovered  he  was  somebody. 
When  the  city  began  to  look  around  for  an 
expert,  it  found  no  one  they  could  get  had  a 
tenth  of  his  knowledge  of  water  supply." 

"That's  the  way  with  your  self-worshipping 
cross-roads  towns !  You  raise  a  genius  — 
laugh  at  him,  pity  his  family  —  till  you  learn 
how  the  outside  world  respects  him.  Then  — 
hurrah!  Strike  up  the  band,  boys!  When  I 
think  how  that  old  party  has  been  quietly  study- 
ing typhoid  fever  and  water  supply  all  these 
years,  with  you  bunch  of  hayseeds  looking  down 
on  him  as  a  crank  —  I  get  so  blamed  sore  at  the 
place  that  I  wish  I'd  chucked  your  letter  into 
the  waste-basket  when  you  wrote  me  to  come!" 

"It  may  have  been  a  dub  of  a  town,  Billy, 
but  it'll  be  the  best  place  in  Indiana  before  we 
get  through  with  it,"  returned  the  editor  con- 
fidently. "But  whom  else  did  you  see?" 

"Ran  into  the  Honourable  Hiram  Cogshell  on 
Main  Street,  and  he  slipped  me  this  precious 
gem."  Billy  handed  Bruce  a  packet  of  type- 
written sheets.  "Carbon  of  his  to-morrow's 
speech.  He  gave  it  to  me,  he  said,  to  save  us 
the  trouble  of  taking  it  down.  The  Honourable 
Hiram  is  certainly  one  citizen  who'll  never  go 
broke  buying  himself  a  bushel  to  hide  his 
light  under!" 

The  editor  glanced  at  a  page  or  two  of  it 
with  wearied  irritation,  then  tossed  it  back. 


WESTVILLE  PREPARES  TO  CELEBRATE  n 

"Guess  we'll  have  to  print  it.  But  weed  out 
some  of  his  flowers  of  rhetoric." 

"Pressed  flowers,"  amended  Billy.  "Swipe 
the  Honourable  Hiram's  copy  of  'Bartlett's 
Quotations'  and  that  tremendous  orator  would 
have  nothing  left  but  his  gestures." 

"How  about  the  grand  jury,  Billy?"  pur- 
sued the  editor.  "Anything  doing  there?" 

"Farmer  down  in  Buck  Creek  Township 
indicted  for  kidnapping  his  neighbour's  pigs," 
drawled  the  reporter.  "Infants  snatched  away 
while  fond  mother  slept.  Very  pathetic.  Also 
that  second-story  man  was  indicted  that  stole 
Alderman  Big  Bill  Perkins's  clothes.  Remem- 
ber it,  don't  you?  Big  Bill's  clothes  had  so 
much  diameter  that  the  poor,  hard-working 
thief  couldn't  sell  the  fruits  of  his  industry. 
Pathos  there  also.  Guess  I  can  spin  the  two 
out  for  a  column." 

"Spin  'em  out  for  about  three  lines,"  re- 
turned Bruce  in  his  abrupt  manner.  "No 
room  for  your  funny  stuff  to-day,  Billy;  the 
celebration  crowds  everything  else  out.  Write 
that  about  the  Governor,  and  then  help  Stevens 
with  the  telegraph  —  and  see  that  it's  carved 
down  to  the  bone."  He  picked  up  the  type- 
written sheets  he  had  finished  revising,  and  let 
out  a  sharp  growl  of  "Copy!" 

"That's  your  celebration  story,  isn't  it?" 
asked  the  reporter. 


12  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Yes."  And  Bruce  held  it  out  to  the  "devil" 
who  had  appeared  through  the  doorway  from 
the  depths  below. 

"Wait  a  bit  with  it,  Arn.  The  prosecuting 
attorney  stopped  me  as  I  was  leaving,  and 
asked  me  to  have  you  step  over  to  the  Court 
House  for  a  minute." 

"What's  Kennedy  want?" 

"Something  about  the  celebration,  he  said. 
I  guess  he  wants  to  talk  with  you  about  some 
further  details  of  the  programme." 

"Why  the  deuce  didn't  he  come  over  here 
then?"  growled  Bruce.  "I'm  as  busy  as  he  is!" 

"He   said   he   couldn't   leave." 

"Couldn't  leave?"  said  Bruce,  with  a  snap 
of  his  heavy  jaw.  "Well,  neither  can  I!" 

"You  mean  you  won't  go?" 

"That's  what  I  mean!  I'll  go  to  the  very 
gates  of  hell  to  get  a  good  piece  of  news,  but 
when  it  comes  to  general  affairs  the  politicians, 
business  men,  and  the  etceteras  of  this  town 
have  got  to  understand  that  there's  just  as 
much  reason  for  their  coming  to  me  as  for  my 
going  to  them.  I'm  as  important  as  any  of 
them." 

"So-ho,  we're  on  our  high  horse,  are  we?" 

"You  bet  we  are,  my  son!  And  that's 
where  you've  got  to  be  if  you  want  this  town 
to  respect  you." 

"All  right.     She's   a  great  nag,   if  you   can 


WESTVILLE  PREPARES  TO  CELEBRATE    13 

keep  your  saddle.     But  I  guess  I'd  better  tell 
Kennedy  you're  not  coming." 

Without  rising,  Billy  leaned  back  and  took 
up  Brace's  desk  telephone,  and  soon  was  talking 
to  the  prosecuting  attorney.  After  a  moment 
he  held  out  the  instrument  to  the  editor. 

"Kennedy  wants  to  speak  with  you,"  he 
said. 

Bruce    took    the    'phone. 

"Hello,  that  you  Kennedy?  .  .  .  No,  I  can't 
come  —  too  busy.  Suppose  you  run  over 
here.  .  .  .  Got  some  people  there?  Well, 
bring  'em  along  ....  Why  can't  they  come? 
Who  are  they?  .  .  .  Can't  you  tell  me  what 
the  situation  is?  ...  All  right,  then;  in  a 
couple  of  minutes." 

Bruce  hung  up  the  receiver  and  arose. 

"So  you're  going  after  all?"  asked  Billy. 

"Guess  I'd  better,"  returned  the  editor, 
putting  on  his  coat  and  hat.  "Kennedy  says 
something  big  has  just  broken  loose.  Sounds 
queer.  Wonder  what  the  dickens  it  can  be." 
And  he  started  out. 

"But  how  about  your  celebration  story?" 
queried  Billy.  "Want  it  to  go  down?" 

Bruce  looked  at  his  watch. 

"Two  hours  till  press  time;  I  guess  it  can 
wait."  And  taking  the  story  back  from  the 
boy  he  tossed  it  upon  his  desk. 

He  stepped  out  into  the  local  room,  which 


i4  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

showed  the  same  kindly  tolerance  of  dirt  as 
did  his  private  office.  At  a  long  table  two  young 
men  sat  before  typewriters,  and  in  a  corner  a 
third  young  man  was  taking  the  clicking  dic- 
tation of  a  telegraph  sounder. 

"Remember,  boys,  keep  everything  but  the 
celebration  down  to  bones!"  Bruce  called  out. 
And  with  that  he  passed  out  of  the  office  and 
down  the  stairway  to  the  street. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    BUBBLE    REPUTATION 

DESPITE  its  thirty  thousand  popula- 
tion—  "Forty  thousand,  and  growing, 
sir!"  loyally  declared  those  disinter- 
ested citizens  engaged  in  the  sale  of  remote 
fields  of  ragweed  as  building  lots  —  Westville 
was  still  but  half-evolved  from  its  earlier  state 
of  an  overgrown  country  town.  It  was  as 
yet  semi-pastoral,  semi-urban.  Automobiles 
and  farm  wagons  locked  hubs  in  brotherly  em- 
brace upon  its  highways;  cowhide  boots  and 
patent  leather  shared  its  sidewalks.  There 
was  a  stockbroker's  office  that  was  thoroughly 
metropolitan  in  the  facilities  it  afforded  the 
elite  for  relieving  themselves  of  the  tribulation 
of  riches;  and  adjoining  it  was  Simpson  Brothers 
&  Company,  wherein  hick'ry-shirted  gentle- 
men bartered  for  threshing  machines,  hayrakes, 
axle  grease,  and  such  like  baubles  of  Arcadian 
pastime. 

There  were  three  topics  on  which  one  could 
always  start  an  argument  in  Westville  —  poli- 
tics, religion,  and  the  editor  of  the  Express. 

15 


16  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

A  year  before  Arnold  Bruce,  who  had  left 
Westville  at  eighteen  and  whom  the  town  had 
vaguely  heard  of  as  a  newspaper  man  in  Chicago 
and  New  York  but  whom  it  had  not  seen  since, 
had  returned  home  and  taken  charge  of  the 
Express,  which  had  been  willed  him  by  the 
late  editor,  his  uncle.  The  Express,  which 
had  been  a  slippered,  dozing,  senile  sheet  under 
old  Jimmie  Bruce,  burst  suddenly  into  a  vol- 
canic youth.  The  new  editor  used  huge,  vocif- 
erous headlines  instead  of  the  mere  whispering, 
timorous  types  of  his  uncle;  he  wrote  a  rous- 
ing, rough-and-ready  English;  occasionally  he 
placed  an  important  editorial,  set  up  in  heavy- 
faced  type  and  enclosed  in  a  black  border,  in 
the  very  centre  of  his  first  page;  and  from  the 
very  start  he  had  had  the  hardihood  to  attack 
the  "established  order"  at  several  points  and 
to  preach  unorthodox  political  doctrines.  The 
wealthiest  citizens  were  outraged,  and  hotly 
denounced  Bruce  as  a  "yellow  journalist"  and 
a  "red-mouthed  demagogue."  It  was  com- 
monly held  by  the  better  element  that  his 
ultra-democracy  was  merely  a  mask,  a  pose, 
an  advertising  scheme,  to  gather  in  the  gullible 
subscriber  and  to  force  himself  sensationally 
into  the  public  eye. 

But  despite  all  hostile  criticism  of  he  paper, 
people  read  the  Express  —  many  staid  ones 
surreptitiously  —  for  it  had  a  snap,  a  go,  a  tang, 


THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION  17 

that  at  times  almost  took  the  breath.  And 
despite  the  estimate  of  its  editor  as  a  charlatan, 
the  people  had  yielded  to  that  aggressive  per- 
sonage a  rank  of  high  importance  in  their  midst. 

Bruce  stepped  forth  from  his  stairway, 
crossed  Main  Street,  and  strode  up  the  shady 
Court-House  walk.  On  the  left  side  of  the  walk, 
a-tiptoe  in  an  arid  fountain,  was  poised  a 
gracious  nymph  of  cast-iron,  so  chastely  garbed 
as  to  bring  to  the  cheek  of  elderly  innocence 
no  faintest  flush.  On  the  walk's  right  side 
stood  a  rigid  statue,  suggesting  tetanus  in  the 
model,  of  the  city's  founder,  Col.  Davy  West, 
wearing  a  coonskin  cap  and  leaning  with  con- 
scious dignity  upon  a  long  deer  rifle. 

Bruce  entered  the  dingy  Court  House,  mounted 
a  foot-worn  wooden  stairway,  browned  with 
the  ambrosial  extract  of  two  generations  of 
tobacco-chewing  litigants,  and  passed  into  a 
damp  and  gloomy  chamber.  This  room  was 
the  office  of  the  prosecuting  attorney  of  Callo- 
way  County.  That  the  incumbent  might  not 
become  too  depressed  by  his  environment,  the 
walls  were  cheered  up  by  a  steel  engraving  of 
Daniel  Webster,  frowning  with  multitudinous 
thought,  and  by  a  crackled  map  of  Indiana  — 
the  latter  dotted  by  industrious  flies  with  myriad 
nameless  cities. 

Three  men  arose  from  about  the  flat-topped 
desk  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  the  prosecutor,  the 


i8  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Reverend  Doctor  Sherman,  and  a  rather  smartly 
dressed  man  whom  Bruce  remembered  to  have 
seen  once  or  twice  but  whom  he  did  not  know. 
With  the  first  two  the  editor  shook  hands,  and 
the  third  was  introduced  to  him  as  Mr.  Marcy, 
the  agent  of  the  Acme  Filter  Company,  which 
had  installed  the  filtering  plant  of  the  new 
water- works. 

Bruce  turned  in  his  brusque  manner  to  the 
prosecuting  attorney. 

"What's  the  matter?"  he  asked. 

"Suppose  we  all  sit  down  first,"  suggested 
the  prosecutor. 

They  did  so,  and  Kennedy  regarded  Bruce 
with  a  solemn,  weighty  stare.  He  was  a  lank, 
lantern-jawed,  frock-coated  gentleman  of 
thirty-five,  with  an  upward  rolling  forelock 
and  an  Adam's-apple  that  throbbed  in  his 
throat  like  a  petrified  pulse.  He  was  climbing 
the  political  ladder,  and  he  was  carefully 
schooling  himself  into  that  dignity  and  poise 
and  appearance  of  importance  which  should 
distinguish  the  deportment  of  the  public  man. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  demanded  Bruce  shortly. 
"About  the  water-works?" 

"Yes,"  responded  Kennedy.  "The  water- 
works, Mr.  Bruce,  is,  I  hardly  need  say,  a 
source  of  pride  to  us  all.  To  you  especially 
it  has  had  a  large  significance.  You  have  made 
it  a  theme  for  a  continuous  agitation  in  your 


,  THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION  19 

paper.  You  have  argued  and  urged  that, 
since  the  city's  new  water-works  promised  to 
be  such  a  great  success,  Westville  should  not 
halt  with  this  one  municipal  enterprise,  but 
should  refuse  the  new  franchise  the  street  rail- 
way company  is  going  to  apply  for,  take  over 
the  railway,  run  it  as  a  municipal " 

"Yes,  yes,"  interrupted  Bruce  impatiently. 
"But  who's  dead?  Who  wants  the  line  of 
march  changed  to  go  by  his  grocery  store?" 

"What  I  was  saying  was  merely  to  recall 
how  very  important  the  water-works  has  been 
to  us,"  the  prosecutor  returned,  with  increased 
solemnity.  He  paused,  and  .having  gained 
that  heightened  stage  effect  of  a  well-managed 
silence,  he  continued:  "Mr.  Bruce,  something 
very  serious  has  occurred." 

For  all  its  ostentation  the  prosecutor's  manner 
was  genuinely  impressive.  Bruce  looked 
quickly  at  the  other  two  men.  The  agent  was 
ill  at  ease,  the  minister  pale  and  agitated. 

"Come,"  cried  Bruce,  "out  with  what  you've 
got  to  tell  me!" 

"It  is  a  matter  of  the  very  first  importance," 
returned  the  prosecutor,  who  was  posing  for 
a  prominent  place  in  the  Express's  account  of 
this  affair  —  for  however  much  the  public 
men  of  Westville  affected  to  look  down  upon 
the  Express,  they  secretly  preferred  its  superior 
presentment  of  their  doings.  "Doctor  Sher- 


20.      COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

man,  in  his  capacity  of  president  of  the  Voters' 
Union,  has  just  brought  before  me  some  most 
distressing,  most  astounding  evidence.  It  is 
evidence  upon  which  I  must  act  both  as  a 
public  official  and  as  a  member  of  the  Arrange- 
ments Committee,  and  evidence  which  con- 
cerns you  both  as  a  committeeman  and  as 
an  editor.  It  is  painful  to  me  to  break " 

"Let's  have  it  from  first  hands,"  inter- 
rupted Bruce,  irritated  by  the  verbal  excelsior 
which  the  prosecutor  so  deliberately  unwrapped 
from  about  his  fact. 

He  turned  to  the  minister,  a  slender  man  of 
hardly  more  than  thirty,  with  a  high  brow,  the 
wide,  sensitive  mouth  of  the  born  orator,  fer- 
vently bright  eyes,  and  the  pallor  of  the  devoted 
student  —  a  face  that  instantly  explained  why, 
though  so  young,  he  was  Westville's  most  pop- 
ular divine. 

"What's  it  about,  Doctor  Sherman?"  the 
editor  asked.  "Who's  the  man?" 

There  was  no  posing  here  for  Bruce's  type- 
writer. The  minister's  concern  was  deep  and 
sincere. 

"About  the  water-works,  as  Mr.  Kennedy 
has  said,"  he  answered  in  a  voice  that  trembled 
with  agitation.  "There  has  been  some  —  some 
crooked  work." 

"Crooked  work?"  ejaculated  the  editor,  star- 
ing at  the  minister.  "Crooked  work?" 


THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION  21 

"Yes." 

"You  are  certain  of  what  you  say?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  you  have  evidence?" 

"I  am  sorry  —  but  —  but  I  have." 

The  editor  was  leaning  forward,  his  nostrils 
dilated,  his  eyes  gleaming  sharply  behind  their 
thick  glasses. 

"Who's  mixed  up  in  it?    Who's  the  man?" 

The  minister's  hands  were  tightly  inter- 
locked. For  an  instant  he  seemed  unable 
to  speak. 

"Who's  the  man?"  repeated  Bruce. 

The    minister    swallowed. 

"Doctor  West,"  he  said. 

Bruce  sprang  up. 

"Doctor  West?"  he  cried.  "The  superintend- 
ent of  the  water- works  ?" 

"Yes." 

If  the  editor's  concern  for  the  .city's  welfare 
was  merely  a  political  and  business  pose,  if  he 
was  merely  an  actor,  at  least  he  acted  his  part 
well.  "My  God!"  he  breathed,  and  stood  with 
eyes  fixed  upon  the  young  minister.  Then 
suddenly  he  sat  down  again,  his  thick  brows 
drew  together,  and  his  heavy  jaws  set. 

"Let's  have  the  whole  story,"  he  snapped 
out.  "From  the  very  beginning." 

"I  cannot  tell  you  how  distressed  I  am  by 
what  I  have  just  been  forced  to  do,"  began  the 


22  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

young  clergyman.  "I  have  always  esteemed 
Doctor  West  most  highly,  and  my  wife  and  his 
daughter  have  been  the  closest  friends  since 
girlhood.  To  make  my  part  in  this  affair 
clear,  I  must  recall  to  you  that  of  late  the 
chief  attention  of  the  Voters'  Union  has  nat- 
urally been  devoted  to  the  water-works.  I 
never  imagined  that  anything  was  wrong. 
But,  speaking  frankly,  after  the  event,  I  must 
say  that  Doctor  West's  position  was  such  as 
made  it  a  simple  matter  for  him  to  defraud 
the  city  should  he  so  desire." 

"You  mean  because  the  council  invested 
him  with  so  much  authority?"  demanded 
Bruce. 

"Yes.  As  I  have  said,  I  regarded  Doctor 
West  above  all  suspicion.  But  a  short  time 
ago  some  matters  —  I  need  not  detail  them  — 
aroused  in  me  the  fear  that  Doctor  West  was 
using  his  office  for — for " 

"For  graft?  "supplied  Bruce. 

The  minister  inclined  his  head. 

"Later,  only  a  few  weeks  ago,  a  more  definite 
fear  came  to  me,"  he  continued  in  his  low, 
pained  voice.  "It  happens  that  I  have  known 
Mr.  Marcy  here  for  years;  we  were  friends  in 
college,  though  we  had  lost  track  of  one  another 
till  his  business  brought  him  here.  A  few 
small  circumstances  —  my  suspicion  was  al- 
ready on  the  alert  —  made  me  guess  that  Mr. 


THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION  23 

Marcy  was  about  to  give  Doctor  West  a  bribe 
for  having  awarded  the  filter  contract  to  his 
company.  I  got  Mr.  Marcy  alone  —  taxed 
him  with  his  intention  —  worked  upon  his 
conscience " 

"Mr.  Marcy  has  stated,"  the  prosecutor 
interrupted  to  explain,  "that  Doctor  Sherman 
always  had  great  influence  over  him." 

Mr.  Marcy  corroborated  this  with  a  nod. 

"At  length  Mr.  Marcy  confessed,"  Doctor 
Sherman  went  on.  "He  had  arranged  to  give 
Doctor  West  a  certain  sum  of  money  immedi- 
ately after  the  filtering  plant  had  been  approved 
and  payment  had  been  made  to  the  company. 
After  this  confession  I  hesitated  long  upon 
what  I  should  do.  On  the  one  hand,  I  shrank 
from  disgracing  Doctor  West.  On  the  other, 
I  had  a  duty  to  the  city.  After  a  long  struggle 
I  decided  that  my  responsibility  to  the  people 
of  Westville  should  overbalance  any  feeling 
I  might  have  for  any  single  individual." 

"That  was  the  only  decision,"  said  Bruce. 
"Go  on!" 

"But  at  the  same  time,  to  protect  Doctor 
West's  reputation,  I  decided  to  take  no  one 
into  my  plan;  should  his  integrity  reassert 
itself  at  the  last  moment  and  cause  him  to 
refuse  the  bribe,  the  whole  matter  would  then 
remain  locked  up  in  my  heart.  I  arranged  with 
Mr.  Marcy  that  he  should  carry  out  his  agree- 


24  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

ment  with  Doctor  West.  Day  before  yester- 
day, as  you  know,  the  council,  on  Doctor 
West's  recommendation,  formally  approved  the 
filtering  plant,  and  yesterday  a  draft  was  sent 
to  the  company.  Mr.  Marcy  was  to  call  at 
Doctor  West's  home  this  morning  to  conclude 
their  secret  bargain.  Just  before  the  appointed 
hour  I  dropped  in  on  Doctor  West,  and  was 
there  when  Mr.  Marcy  called.  I  said  I  would 
wait  to  finish  my  talk  with  Doctor  West  till 
they  were  through  their  business,  took  a  book, 
and  went  into  an  adjoining  room.  I  could  see 
the  two  men  through  the  partly  opened  door. 
After  some  talk,  Mr.  Marcy  drew  an  envelope 
from  his  pocket  and  handed  it  to  Doctor  West, 
saying  in  a  low  voice,  'Here  is  that  money  we 
spoke  about.' ' 

"And  he  took  it?"    Bruce  interrupted. 

"Doctor  West  slipped  the  envelope  unopened 
into  his  pocket,  and  replied,  'Thank  you  very 
much;  it  will  come  in  very  handy  just  now." 

"My  God!"  breathed  the  editor. 

"Though  I  had  suspected  Doctor  West,  I 
sat  there  stunned,"  the  minister  continued. 
"But  after  a  minute  or  two  I  slipped  out  by 
another  door.  I  returned  with  a  policeman, 
and  found  Doctor  West  still  with  Mr.  Marcy. 
The  policeman  arrested  Doctor  WTest,  and 
found  the  envelope  upon  his  person.  In  it 
was  two  thousand  dollars-" 


THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION  2$ 

"Now,  what  do  you  think  of  that?"  Kennedy 
demanded  of  the  editor.  "Won't  the  town 
be  thunderstruck!" 

Bruce  turned  to  the  agent,  who  had  sat 
through  the  recital,  a  mere  corroborative  pres- 
ence. 

"And  this  is  all  true?" 

"That  is  exactly  the  way  it  happened,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Marcy. 

Bruce  looked  back  at  the  minister. 

"But  didn't  he  have  anything  to  say  for 
himself?" 

"I  can  answer  that,"  put  in  Kennedy.  "I 
had  him  in  here  before  I  sent  him  over  to  the 
jail.  He  admits  practically  every  point  that 
Doctor  Sherman  has  made.  The  only  thing 
he  says  for  himself  is  that  he  never  thought 
the  money  Mr.  Marcy  gave  him  was  intended 
for  .a  bribe." 

Bruce  stood  up,  his  face  hard  and  glowering, 
and  his  fist  crashed  explosively  down  upon  the 
table. 

"Of  all  the  damned  flimsy  defenses  that 
ever  a  man  made,  that's  the  limit!" 

"It  certainly  won't  go  down  with  the  people 
of  Westville,"  commented  the  prosecutor. 
"And  I  can  see  the  smile  of  the  jury  when  he 
produces  that  defense  in  court." 

"I  should  say  they  would  smile!"  cried 
Bruce.  "But  what  was  his  motive?" 


26  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"That's  plain  enough,"  answered  the  prose- 
cutor. "We  both  know,  Mr.  Bruce,  that  he 
has  earned  hardly  anything  from  the  practice  of 
medicine  since  we  were  boys.  His  salary  as 
superintendent  of  the  water-works  was  much 
less  than  he  has  been  spending.  His  prop- 
erty is  mortgaged  practically  to  its  full  value. 
Everything  has  gone  on  those  experiments  of 
his.  It's  simply  a  case  of  a  man  being  in  a 
tight  fix  for  money." 

Bruce  was  striding  up  and  down  the  room, 
scowling  and  staring  fiercely  at  the  worn  lino- 
leum that  carpeted  the  prosecutor's  office. 

"I  thought  you'd  take  it  rather  hard," 
said  Kennedy,  a  little  slyly.  "It  sort  of  puts 
a  spoke  in  that  general  municipal  ownership 
scheme  of  yours  —  eh?" 

Bruce  paused  belligerently  before  the  prose- 
cutor. 

"See  here,  Kennedy,"  he  snapped  out.  "Be- 
cause a  man  you've  banked  on  is  a  crook,  does 
that  prove  a  principle  is  wrong?" 

"Oh,  I  guess  not,"  Kennedy  had  to  admit. 

"Well,  suppose  you  cut  out  that  kind  of  talk 
then.  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  the 
doctor?" 

"The  grand  jury  is  in  session.  I'm  going 
straight  before  it  with  the  evidence.  An  hour 
from  now  and  Doctor  West  will  be  indicted." 

"And   what   about  to-morrow's  show?" 


THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION  27 

"What  do  you  think  we  ought  to  do?" 

"What  ought  we  to  do!"  Again  the  editor's 
fist  crashed  upon  the  desk.  "The  celebration 
was  half  in  Doctor  West's  honour.  Do  we  want 
to  meet  and  hurrah  for  the  man  that  sold  us 
out?  As  for  the  water- works,  it  looks  as  if, 
for  all  we  know,  he  might  have  bought  us 
a  lot  of  old  junk.  Do  we  want  to  hold  a 
jubilee  over  a  junk  pile?  You  ask  what  we 
ought  to  do.  God,  man,  there's  only  one  thing 
to  do,  and  that's  to  call  the  whole  damned 
performance  off!" 

"That's  my  opinion,"  said  the  prosecutor. 
"What  do  you  think,  Doctor  Sherman?" 

The  young  minister  wiped  his  pale  face. 

"It's  a  most  miserable  affair.  I'm  sick  be- 
cause of  the  part  I've  been  forced  to  play  —  I'm 
sorry  for  Doctor  West  —  and  I'm  particularly 
sorry  for  his  daughter — but  I  do  not  see  that 
any  other  course  would  be  possible." 

"I  suppose  we  ought  to  consult  Mr.  Blake," 
said  Kennedy. 

"He's  not  in  town,"  returned  Bruce.  "And 
we  don't  need  to  consult  him.  We  three  are 
a  majority  of  the  committee.  The  matter  has 
to  be  settled  at  once.  And  it's  settled  all 
right!" 

The  editor  jerked  out  his  watch,  glanced  at 
it,  then  reached  for  his  hat. 

"I'll  have  this  on  the  street  in  an  hour  — 


28  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

and  if  this  town  doesn't  go  wild,  then  I  don't 
know  Westville!" 

He  was  making  for  the  door,  when  the  news- 
paper man  in  him  recalled  a  new  detail  of  his 
story.  He  turned  back. 

"How  about  this  daughter  of  Doctor  West?" 
he  asked. 

The  prosecutor  looked  at  the  minister. 

"Was  she  coming  home  for  the  celebration, 
do  you  know?" 

"Yes.  She  wrote  Mrs.  Sherman  she  was 
leaving  New  York  this  morning  and  would  get 
in  here  to-morrow  on  the  Limited." 

"What's  she  like?"  asked  Bruce. 

"Haven't  you  seen  her?"  asked  Kennedy. 

"She  hasn't  been  home  since  I  came  back 
to  Westville.  When  I  left  here  she  was  a  tom- 
boy —  mostly  legs  and  freckles." 

The  prosecutor's  lean  face  crinkled  with  a  smile. 

"I  guess  you'll  find  she's  grown  right  smart 
since  then.  She  went  to  one  of  those  colleges 
back  East;  Vassar,  I  think  it  was.  She  got 
hold  of  some  of  those  new-fangled  ideas  the 
women  in  the  East  are  crazy  over  now  — 
about  going  out  in  the  world  for  themselves, 
and " 

"Idiots  —  all  of  them!"  snapped  Bruce. 

"After  she  graduated,  she  studied  law.  When 
she  was  back  home  two  years  ago  she  asked 
me  what  chance  a  woman  would  have  to 


THE  BUBBLE  REPUTATION  29 

practise  law  in  Westville.  A  woman  lawyer 
in  Westville  —  oh,  Lord!" 

The  prosecutor  leaned  back  and  laughed  at 
the  excruciating  humour  of  the  idea. 

"Oh,  I  know  the  kind!"  Bruce's  lips  curled 
with  contempt.  "Loud-voiced — -aggressive  — 
bony  —  perfect  frights." 

"Let  me  suggest,"  put  in  Doctor  Sherman, 
"that  Miss  West  does  not  belong  in  that 
classification." 

"Yes,  I  guess  you're  a  little  wrong  about 
Katherine  West,"  smiled  Kennedy. 

Bruce  waved  his  hand  peremptorily.  "They're 
all  the  same!  But  what's  she  doing  in  New 
York?  Practising  law?" 

"No.  She's  working  for  an  organization 
something  like  Doctor  Sherman's  —  The  Munici- 
pal League,  I  think  she  called  it." 

"  Huh ! "  grunted  Bruce.  "  Well,  whatever  she's 
like,  it's  a  pretty  mess  she's  coming  back  into!" 

With  that  the  editor  pulled  his  hat  tightly 
down  upon  his  forehead  and  strode  out  of  the 
Court  House  and  past  the  speakers'  stand, 
across  whose  front  twin  flags  were  being  leisurely 
festooned.  Back  in  his  own  office  he  picked 
up  the  story  he  had  finished  an  hour  before. 
With  a  sneer  he  tore  it  across  and  trampled  it 
under  foot.  Then,  jerking  a  chair  forward 
to  his  typewriter,  his  brow  dark,  his  jaw  set, 
he  began  to  thump  fiercely  upon  the  keys. 


CHAPTER  III 

KATHERINE    COMES    HOME 

NEXT  morning  when  the  Limited  slowed 
down  beside  the  old  frame  station  —  a 
new  one  of  brick  was  rising  across  the 
tracks  —  a  young  woman  descended  from  a  Pull- 
man at  the  front  of  the  train.  She  was  lithe  and 
graceful,  rather  tall  and  slender,  and  was  dressed 
with  effective  simplicity  in  a  blue  tailored  suit 
and  a  tan  straw  hat  with  a  single  blue  quill. 
Her  face  was  flushed,  and  there  glowed  an  ex- 
pectant brightness  in  her  brown  eyes,  as  though 
happiness  and  affection  were  upon  the  point  of 
bubbling  over. 

Standing  beside  her  suit-case,  she  eagerly 
scanned  the  figures  about  the  station.  Three 
or  four  swagger  young  drummers  had  scrambled 
off  the  smoker,  and  these  ambassadors  of  fashion 
as  many  hotel  bus  drivers  were  inviting  with  im- 
portunate hospitality  to  honour  their  respective 
board  and  bed.  There  was  the  shirt-sleeved 
figure  of  Jim  Ludlow,  ticket  agent  and  tenor 
of  the  Presbyterian  choir.  And  leaning  cross- 
legged  beneath  the  station  eaves,  giving  the 

30 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  31 

effect  of  supporting  the  low  roof,  were  half  a 
dozen  slowly  masticating,  soberly  contemplative 
gentlemen  —  loose-jointed  caryatides,  wrhose 
lank  sculpture  forms  the  sole  and  invariable 
ornamentation  of  the  facades  of  all  Western 
stations.  But  nowhere  did  the  young  woman's 
expectant  eyes  alight  upon  the  person  wrhom 
they  sought. 

The  joyous  response  to  welcome,  which  had 
plainly  trembled  at  the  tips  of  her  being,  sub- 
sided, and  in  disappointment  she  picked  up  her 
bag  and  was  starting  for  a  street  car,  when  up 
the  long,  broad  platform  there  came  hurrying 
a  short-legged  little  man,  with  a  bloodshot, 
watery  eye.  He  paused  hesitant  at  a  couple 
of  yards,  smiled  tentatively,  and  the  remnant 
of  an  old  glove  fumbled  the  brim  of  a  rumpled, 
semi-bald  object  that  in  its  distant  youth  had 
probably  been  a  silk  hat. 

The  young  woman  smiled  back  and  held  out 
her  hand. 

"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Huggins." 

"How  de  do,  Miss  Katherine, "  he  stammered. 

"Have  you  seen  father  anywhere?"  she  asked 
anxiously. 

"No.  Your  aunt  just  sent  me  word  I  was 
to  meet  you  and  fetch  you  home.  She  couldn't 
leave  Doctor  West. " 

"Is  father  ill?"  she  cried. 

The  old  cabman  fumbled  his  ancient  headgear. 


32  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"No  —  he  ain't  —  he  ain't  exactly  sick.  He's 
just  porely.  I  guess  it's  only  —  only  a  bad 
headache." 

He  hastily  picked  up  her  suit-case  and  led 
her  past  the  sidling  admiration  of  the  drummers, 
those  soverign  critics  of  Western  femininity,  to 
the  back  of  the  station  where  stood  a  tottering 
surrey  and  a  dingy  gray  nag,  far  gone  in  years, 
that  leaned  upon  its  shafts  as  though  on  crutches. 
Katherine  clambered  in,  and  the  drooping 
animal  doddered  along  a  street  thickly  over- 
hung with  the  exuberant  May-green  of  maples. 

She  gazed  with  ardent  eyes  at  the  familiar 
frame  cottages,  in  some  of  which  had  lived 
school  and  high-school  friends,  sitting  comfort- 
ably back  amid  their  little  squares  of  close- 
cropped  lawn.  She  liked  New  York  with  that 
adoptive  liking  one  acquires  for  the  place  one 
chooses  from  among  all  others  for  the  passing  of 
one's  life;  but  her  affection  remained  warm  and 
steadfast  with  this  old  town  of  her  girlhood. 

"Oh,  but  it  feels  good  to  be  back  in  West- 
ville  again!"  she  cried  to  the  cabman. 

"I  reckon  it  must.  I  guess  it's  all  of  two 
years  sence  you  been  home." 

"Two  years,  yes.  It's  going  to  be  a  great 
celebration  this  afternoon,  isn't  it?" 

"  Yes'm  —  very  big"  —  and  he  hastily  struck 
the  ancient  steed.  "Get-ep  there,  Jenny!" 

Mr.Huggins's  mare  turned  off  Station  Avenue, 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  33 

and  Katharine  excitedly  stared  ahead  beneath 
the  wide-boughed  maples  for  the  first  glimpse 
of  her  home.  At  length  it  came  into  view  — 
one  of  those  big,  square,  old-fashoned  wooden 
houses,  built  with  no  perceptible  architectural 
idea  beyond  commodious  shelter.  She  had 
thought  her  father  might  possibly  stumble  out 
to  greet  her,  but  no  one  stood  waiting  at  the 
paling  gate. 

She  sprang  lightly  from  the  carriage  as  it 
drew  up  beside  the  curb,  and  leaving  Mr.  Hug- 
gins  to  follow  with  her  bag  she  hurried  up  the 
brick-paved  path  to  the  house.  As  she  crossed 
the  porch,  a  slight,  gray,  Quakerish  little  lady, 
with  a  white  kerchief  folded  across  her  breast, 
pushed  open  the  screen  door.  Her  Katherine 
gathered  into  her  arms  and  kissed  repeatedly. 

"I'm  so  glad  to  see  you,  auntie!"  she  cried. 
"How  are  you?" 

"Very  well,"  the  old  woman  answered  in  a 
thin,  tremulous  voice.  "How  is  thee?" 

"Me?  Oh,  you  know  nothing's  ever  wrong 
with  me!"  She  laughed  in  her  buoyant  young 
strength.  "But  you,  auntie?"  She  grew  se- 
rious. :<  You  look  very  tired  —  and  very,  very 
worn  and  worried.  But  I  suppose  it's  the  strain 
of  father's  headache  —  poor  father!  How  is 
he?" 

"I  —  I  think  he's  feeling  some  better,"  the 
old  woman  faltered.  "He's  still  lying  down." 


34  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

They  had  entered  the  big,  airy  sitting-room. 
Katherine's  hat  and  coat  went  flying  upon  the 
couch. 

"Now,  before  I  so  much  as  ask  you  a  question, 
or  tell  you  a  thing,  Aunt  Rachel,  I'm  going  up 
to  see  dear  old  father. " 

She  made  for  the  stairway,  but  her  aunt 
caught  her  arm  in  consternation. 

"Wait,  Katherine!  Thee  musn't  see  him  yet." 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  Katherine  asked 
in  surprise. 

"It  —  it  would  be  better  for  him  if  thee 
didn't  disturb  him." 

"But,  auntie  —  you  know  no  one  can  soothe 
him  as  I  can  when  he  has  a  headache!" 

"But  he's  asleep  just  now.  He  didn't  sleep 
a  minute  all  night." 

"Then  of  course  I'll  wait. "  Katherine  turned 
back.  "Has  he  suffered  much ' 

She  broke  off.  Her  aunt  was  gazing  at  her 
in  wide-eyed,  helpless  misery. 

"Why  —  why  —  what's  the  matter,  auntie?" 

Her  aunt  did  not  answer  her. 

"Tell  me!     What  is  it?     What's  wrong?" 

Still  the  old  woman  did  not  speak. 

"Something  has  happened  to  father!"  cried 
Katherine.  She  clutched  her  aunt's  thin  shoul- 
ders. "Has  something  happened  to  father?" 

The  old  woman  trembled  all  over,  and  tears 
started  from  her  mild  eyes. 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  35 

"Yes,"  she  quavered. 

"But  what  is  it?"  Katherine  asked  franti- 
cally. "Is  he  very  sick?" 

"It's  —  it's  worse  than  that." 

"Please!    What  is  it  then?" 

"I  haven't  the  heart  to  tell  thee, "  she  said 
piteously,  and  she  sank  into  a  chair  and  covered 
her  face. 

Katherine  caught  her  arm  and  fairly  shook 
her  in  the  intensity  of  her  demand. 

"Tell  me!  I  can't  stand  this  another  in- 
stant!" 

"There  —  there  isn't  going  to  be  any  cele- 
bration." 

"No  celebration?" 

"  Yesterday  —  thy    father  —  was    arrested. " 

"Arrested!" 

"And  indicted  for  accepting  a  bribe." 

Katherine  shrank  back. 

"Oh!  "she  whispered.  "Oh!"  Then  her  slen- 
der body  tensed,  and  her  dark  eyes  flashed  fire. 
"Father  accept  a  bribe!  It's  a  lie!  A  lie!" 

"It  hardly  seems  true  to  me,  either." 

"It's  a  lie!"  repeated  Katherine.  "But  is 
he  —  is  he  locked  up?" 

"They  let  me  go  his  bail." 

Again  Katherine  caught  her  aunt's  arm. 

"Come  —  tell  me  all  about  it!" 

"Please   don't   make   me.     I  —  I    can't." 

"But  I  must  know!" 


36  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"  It's  in  the  newspapers  —  they're  on  the 
centre-table. " 

Katherine  turned  to  the  table  and  seized 
a  paper.  At  sight  of  the  sheet  she  had  picked 
up,  the  old  woman  hurried  across  to  her  in 
dismay. 

"Don't  read  that  Express!"  she  cried,  and 
she  sought  to  draw  the  paper  from  Katherine's 
hands.  "Read  the  Clarion.  It's  ever  so  much 
kinder." 

But  Katherine  had  already  seen  the  headline 
that  ran  across  the  top  of  the  Express.  It 
staggered  her.  She  gasped  at  the  blow,  but 
she  held  on  to  the  paper. 

"I'll  read  the  worst  they  have  to  say,"  she 
said. 

Her  aunt  dropped  into  a  chair  and  covered 
her  eyes  to  avoid  sight  of  the  girl's  suffering. 
The  story,  in  its  elements,  was  a  commonplace 
to  Katherine;  in  her  work  with  the  Munici- 
pal League  she  had  every  few  days  met  with 
just  such  a  tale  as  this.  But  that  which  is  a 
commonplace  when  strangers  are  involved, 
becomes  a  tragedy  when  loved  ones  are  its 
actors.  So,  as  she  read  the  old,  old  story, 
Katherine  trembled  as  with  mortal  pain. 

But  sickening  as  was  the  story  in  itself,  it 
was  made  even  more  agonizing  to  her  by  the 
manner  of  the  Express's  telling.  Bruce's  type- 
writer had  never  been  more  impassioned. 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  37 

The  story  was  in  heavy-faced  type,  the  lines 
two  columns  wide;  and  in  a  "box"  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  first  page  was  an  editorial  de- 
nouncing Doctor  West  and  demanding  for  him 
such  severe  punishment  as  would  make  future 
traitors  forever  fear  to  sell  their  city.  Article 
and  editorial  were  rousing  and  vivid,  brilliant 
and  bitter  —  as  mercilessly  stinging  as  a  salted 
whip-lash  cutting  into  bare  flesh. 

Katherine  writhed  with  the  pain  of  it.  "  Oh ! " 
she  cried.  "It's  brutal!  Brutal!  Who  could 
have  had  the  heart  to  write  like  that  about 
father?" 

"The  editor,  Arnold  Bruce,"  answered  her 
aunt. 

"Oh,  he's  a  brute!  If  I  could  tell  him  to  his 

face "  Her  whole  slender  being  flamed 

with  anger  and  hatred,  and  she  crushed  the  paper 
in  a  fierce  hand  and  flung  it  to  the  floor. 

Then,  slowly,  her  face  faded  to  an  ashen 
gray.  She  steadied  herself  on  the  back  of  a 
chair  and  stared  in  desperate,  fearful  suppli- 
cation at  the  bowed  figure  of  the  older  woman. 

"Auntie?"  she  breathed. 

"Yes?" 

"Auntie"  —  eyes  and  voice  were  pleading 
—  "auntie,  the  —  the  things  —  this  paper 
says  —  they  never  happened,  did  they?" 

The  old  head  nodded. 

"Oh!  oh!"  she  gasped.      She  wavered,  sank 


38  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

stricken  into  a  chair,  and  buried  her  face  in  her 
arms.  "Poor  father!"  she  moaned  brokenly. 
"Poor  father!" 

There  was  silence  for  a  moment,  then  the  old 
woman  rose  and  gently  put  a  hand  upon  the 
quivering  young  shoulder. 

"Don't,  dear!  Even  if  it  did  happen,  I  can't 
believe  it.  Thy  father " 

At  that  moment,  overhead,  there  was  a  soft 
noise,  as  of  feet  placed  upon  the  floor.  Katherine 
sprang  up. 

"Father!"  she  breathed.  There  began  a 
restless,  slippered  pacing.  "Father!"  she  re- 
peated, and  sprang  for  the  stairway  and  rapidly 
ran  up. 

At  her  father's  door  she  paused,  hand  over 
her  heart.  She  feared  to  enter  to  her  father  — 
feared  lest  she  should  find  his  head  bowed  in 
acknowledged  shame.  But  she  summoned  her 
strength  and  noiselessly  opened  the  door.  It 
was  a  large  room,  a  hybrid  of  bedroom  and 
study,  whose  drawn  shades  had  dimmed  the 
brilliant  morning  into  twilight.  An  open  side 
door  gave  a  glimpse  of  glass  jars,  bellying  re- 
torts and  other  paraphernalia  of  the  laboratory. 

Walking  down  the  room  was  a  tall,  stooping, 
white-haired  figure  in  a  quilted  dressing-gown. 
He  reached  the  end  of  the  room,  turned  about, 
then  sighted  her  in  the  doorway. 

"Katherine!"  he  cried  with  quavering  joy, 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  39 

and  started  toward  her;  but  he  came  abruptly 
to  a  pause,  hesitating,  accused  man  that  he 
was,  to  make  advances. 

Her  sickening  fear  was  for  the  instant  swept 
away  by  a  rising  flood  of  love.  She  sprang 
forward  and  threw  her  arms  about  his  neck. 

"Father!"  she  sobbed.     "Oh,  father!" 

She  felt  his  tears  upon  her  forehead,  felt  his 
body  quiver,  and  felt  his  hand  gently  stroke 
her  back. 

"You've  heard  —  then?"  he  asked,  at  length. 

"Yes  —  from  the  papers." 

He  held  her  close,  but  for  a  moment  did  not 
speak. 

"  It  isn't  a  —  a  very  happy  celebration  —  I've 
prepared  for  you. " 

She  could  only  cry  convulsively,  "Poor 
father!" 

"You  never  dreamt,"  he  quavered,  "your 
old  father  —  could  do  a  thing  like  this  —  did 
you?" 

She  did  not  answer.  She  trembled  a  moment 
longer  on  his  shoulder;  then,  slowly  and  with 
fear,  she  lifted  her  head  and  gazed  into  his  face. 
The  face  was  worn  —  she  thrilled  with  pain  to 
see  how  sadly  worn  it  was!  —  but  though  tear- 
wet  and  working  with  emotion,  it  met  her  look 
with  steadiness.  It  was  the  same  simple, 
kindly,  open  face  that  she  had  known  since 
childhood. 


40  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

There  was  a  sudden  wild  leaping  within  her. 
She  clutched  his  shoulders,  and  her  voice  rang 
out  in  joyous  conviction: 

"Father  —  you  are  not  guilty!" 

"You  believe  in  me,  then?" 

"You  are  not  guilty!"  she  cried  with  mounting 

joy. 

He  smiled  faintly. 

"Why,  of  course  not,  my  child." 

"Oh,  father!"  And  again  she  caught  him  in 
a  close  embrace. 

After  a  moment  she  leaned  back  in  his  arms. 

"Pm  so  happy  —  so  happy!  Forgive  me, 
daddy  dear,  that  I  could  doubt  you  even  for 


a  minute.' 


"How  could  you  help  it?  They  say  the  evi- 
dence against  me  is  very  strong." 

"I  should  have  believed  you  innocent  against 
all  the  evidence  in  the  world!  And  I  do,  and 
shall  —  no  matter  what  they  may  say!" 

"Bless  you,  Katherine!" 

"But  come  —  tell  me  how  it  all  came  about. 
But,  first,  let's  brighten  up  the  room  a  little." 

So  great  was  her  relief  that  her  spirits  had 
risen  as  though  some  positive  blessing  had  be- 
fallen her.  She  crossed  lightly  to  the  big  bay 
window,  raised  the  shades  and  threw  up  the 
sashes.  The  sunlight  slanted  down  into  the 
room  and  lay  in  a  dazzling  yellow  square  upon 
the  floor.  The  soft  breeze  sighed  through  the 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  41 

two  tall  pines  without  and  bore  into  them  the 
perfumed  freshness  of  the  spring. 

"There  now,  isn't  that  better?"  she  said, 
smiling  brightly. 

"That's  just  what  your  home-coming  has 
done  for  me, "  he  said  gratefully  —  "let  in  the 
sunlight. " 

"  Come,  come  —  don't  try  to  turn  the  head 
of  your  offspring  with  flattery!  Now,  sir,  sit 
down,"  and  she  pointed  to  a  chair  at  his  desk, 
which  stood  within  the  bay  window. 

"First,"  —  with  his  gentle  smile  —  "if  I  may, 
I'd  like  to  take  a  look  at  my  daughter." 

"I  suppose  a  father's  wish  is  a  daughter's 
command,"  she  complained.  "So  go  ahead." 

He  moved  to  the  window,  so  that  the  light 
fell  full  upon  her,  and  for  a  long  moment  gazed 
into  her  face.  The  brow  was  low  and  broad. 
Over  the  white  temples  the  heavy  dark  hair 
waved  softly  down,  to  be  fastened  in  a  simple 
knot  low  upon  the  neck,  showing  in  its  full  beauty 
the  rare  modelling  of  her  head.  The  eyes  were 
a  rich,  warm,  luminous  brown,  fringed  with 
long  lashes,  and  in  them  lurked  all  manner  of 
fathomless  mysteries.  The  mouth  was  soft, 
yet  full  and  firm  —  a  real  mouth,  such  as  Nature 
bestows  upon  her  real  women.  It  was  a  face 
of  freshness  and  youth  and  humour,  and  now 
was  tremulous  with  a  smiling,  tear-wet  tender- 
ness. 


42  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I  think,"  said  her  father,  slowly  and  softly, 
"that  my  daughter  is  very  beautiful." 

"There  —  enough  of  your  blarney!"  She 
flushed  with  pleasure,  and  pressed  her  fresh 
cheek  against  his  withered  one.  "You  dear 
old  father,  you!" 

She  drew  him  to  his  desk,  which  was  strewn 
with  a  half-finished  manuscript  on  the  typhoid 
bacillus,  and  upon  which  stood  a  faded  photo- 
graph of  a  young  woman,  near  Katherine's 
years  and  made  in  her  image,  dressed  in  the 
tight-fitting  "basque"  of  the  early  eighties. 
Westville  knew  that  Doctor  West  had  loved  his 
wife  dearly,  but  the  town  had  never  surmised  a 
tenth  of  the  grief  that  had  closed  darkly  in 
upon  him  when  typhoid  fever  had  carried  her 
away  while  her  young  womanhood  was  in  its 
freshest  bloom. 

Katherine  pressed  him  down  into  his  chair 
at  the  desk,  sat  down  in  one  beside  it,  and  took 
his  hand. 

"Now,  father,  tell  me  just  how  things  stand." 

"You  know  everything  already,"  said  he. 

"Not  everything.  I  know  the  charges  of 
the  other  side,  and  I  know  your  innocence. 
But  I  do  not  know  your  explanation  of  the 
affair." 

He  ran  his  free  hand  through  his  silver  hair, 
and  his  face  grew  troubled. 

"My  explanation  agrees  with  what  you  have 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  43 

read,  except  that  I  did  not  know  I  was  being 
bribed." 

"H'm!"  Her  brow  wrinkled  thoughtfully 
and  she  was  silent  for  a  moment.  "Suppose 
we  go  back  to  the  very  beginning,  father,  and 
run  over  the  whole  affair.  Try  to  remember. 
In  the  early  stages  of  negotiations,  did  the  agent 
say  anything  to  you  about  money?" 

He  did  not  speak  for  a  minute  or  more. 

"Now  that  I  think  it  over,  he  did  say  some- 
thing about  its  being  worth  my  while  if  his 
filter  was  accepted." 

"That  was  an  overture  to  bribe  you.  And 
what  did  you  say  to  him?" 

"I  don't  remember.  You  see,  at  the  time, 
his  offer,  if  it  was  one,  did  not  make  any  im- 
pression on  me.  I  believe  I  didn't  say  anything 
to  him  at  all.' 

"But  you  approved  his  filter?" 

"Yes." 

"Mr.  Marcy  says  in  the  Express,  and  you 
admit  it,  that  he  offered  you  a  bribe.  You 
approved  his  filter.  On  the  face  of  it,  speaking 
legally,  that  looks  bad,  father. " 

"But  how  could  I  honestly  keep  from  ap- 
proving his  filter,  when  it  was  the  very  best 
on  the  market  for  our  water?"  demanded 
Doctor  West. 

"Then  how  did  you  come  to  accept  that 
money?" 


44  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

The  old  man's  face  cleared. 

"I  can  explain  that  easily.  Some  time  ago 
the  agent  said  something  about  the  Acme 
Filter  Company  wishing  to  make  a  little  dona- 
tion to  our  hospital.  I'm  one  of  the  directors, 
you  know.  So,  when  he  handed  me  that 
envelope,  I  supposed  it  was  the  contribution 
to  the  hospital  —  perhaps  twenty-five  or  fifty 
dollars." 

"And  that  is  all?" 

"That's  the  whole  truth.  But  when  I  ex- 
plained the  matter  to  the  prosecuting  attorney, 
he  just  smiled." 

"I  know  it's  the  truth,  because  you  say  it." 
She  affectionately  patted  the  hand  that  she 
held.  "But,  again  speaking  legally,  it  wouldn't 
sound  very  plausible  to  an  outsider.  But  how 
do  you  explain  the  situation?" 

"I  think  the  whole  affair  must  be  just  a 
mistake." 

"Possibly.  But  if  so,  you'll  have  to  be  able 
to  prove  it."  She  thought  a  space.  "Could  it 
be  that  this  is  a  manufactured  charge?" 

Doctor  West's  eyes  widened  with  amazement. 

"Why,  of  course  not!  You  have  forgotten 
that  the  man  who  makes  the  charge  is  Mr. 
Sherman.  You  surely  do  not  think  he  would 
let  himself  be  involved  in  anything  that  he 
did  not  believe  to  be  in  the  highest  degree 
honourable?" 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  45 

"I  do  not  know  him  very  well.  During  the 
four  years  he  has  been  here,  I  have  met  him  only 
a  few  times." 

"But  you  know  what  your  dearest  friend 
thinks  of  him. " 

"Yes,  I  know  Elsie  considers  her  husband 
to  be  an  ecclesiastical  Sir  Galahad.  And  I 
must  admit  that  he  has  seemed  to  me  the 
highest  type  of  the  modern  young  minister." 

"Then  you  agree  with  me,  that  Mr.  Sherman 
is  thoroughly  honest  in  this  affair?  That  his 
only  motive  is  a  sense  of  public  duty?" 

"Yes.  I  cannot  conceive  of  him  knowingly 
doing  a  wrong." 

"That's  what  has  forced  me  to  think  it's 
only  just  a  mistake,"  said  her  father. 

"You  may  be  right. "  She  considered  the  idea. 
"But  what  does  your  lawyer  say?" 

His  pale  cheeks  flushed. 

"I  have  no  lawyer,"  he  said  slowly. 

"I  see.  You  were  waiting  to  consult  me 
about  whom  to  retain. " 

He  shook  his  head. 

"Then    you    have    approached    some    one?" 

"I  have  spoken  to  Hopkins,  and  Williams, 
and  Freeman.  They  all >:  He  hesitated. 

"Yes?" 

"They  all  said  they  could  not  take  my  case. " 

"  Could  not  take  your  case ! "  she  cried.  "  Why 
not?" 


46  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"They  made  different  excuses.  But  their 
excuses  were  not  their  real  reason." 

"And  what  was  that?" 

The  old  man  flushed  yet  more  painfully. 

"I  guess  you  do  not  fully  realize  the  situation, 
Katherine.  I  don't  need  to  tell  you  that  a 
wave  of  popular  feeling  against  political  cor- 
ruption is  sweeping  across  the  country.  This 
is  the  first  big  case  that  has  come  out  in  West- 
ville,  and  the  city  is  stirred  up  over  this  as 
it  hasn't  been  stirred  in  years.  The  way  the 
Express You  saw  the  Express?" 

Her  hands  instinctively  clenched. 

"It  was  awful!    Awful!" 

"The  way  the  Express  has  handled  it  has 
especially  —  well,  you  see J: 

"You  mean  those  lawyers  are  afraid  to  take 
the  case?" 

Doctor  West  nodded. 

Katherine's   dark   eyes   glowed   with   wrath. 

"Did  you  try  any  one  else?" 

"Mr.  Green  came  to  see  me.     But ' 

"Of  course  not!  It  would  kill  your  case  to 
have  a  shyster  represent  you."  She  gripped 
his  hand,  and  her  voice  rang  out:  "Father, 
I'm  glad  those  men  refused  you.  We're  going 
to  get  for  you  the  biggest  man,  the  biggest 
lawyer,  in  Westville." 

"You  mean  Mr.  Blake?" 

"Yes,  Mr.  Blake." 


KATHERINE  COMES  HOME  47 

"I  thought  of  him  at  first,  of  course.  But 
I  —  well,  I  hesitated  to  approach  him. " 

"Hesitated?     Why?" 

"Well, you  see," he  stammered," I  remembered 
about  your  refusing  him,  and  I  felt " 

"That  would  never  make  any  difference  to 
him,"  she  cried.  "He's  too  much  of  a  gentle- 
man. Besides,  that  was  five  years  ago,  and 
he  has  forgotten  it." 

"Then  you  think  he'll  take  the  case?" 

"Of  course,  he'll  take  it!  He'll  take  it  be- 
cause he's  a  big  man,  and  because  you  need 
him,  and  because  he's  no  coward.  And  with 
the  biggest  man  in  Westville  on  your  side, 
you'll  see  how  public  opinion  will  right-about 
face!" 

She  sprang  up,  aglow  with  energy.  "I'm 
going  to  see  him  this  minute!  With  his  help, 
we'll  have  this  matter  cleared  up  before  you 
know  it,  and" — smiling  lightly — "just  you  see, 
daddy,  all  Westville  will  be  out  there  in  the 
front  yard,  tramping  over  Aunt  Rachel's  sweet 
williams,  begging  to  be  allowed  to  come  and 
kiss  your  hand!" 

He  kissed  her  own.  He  rose,  and  a  smile 
broke  through  the  clouds  of  his  face. 

"You've  been  home  only  an  hour,  and  I 
feel  that  a  thousand  years  have  been  lifted 
off  me." 

"That's  right  —  and  just  keep  on  feeling  a 


48  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

thousand  years  younger."  She  smiled  caress- 
ingly, and  began  to  twist  a  finger  in  a  button- 
hole of  his  coat.  "U'm —  don't  you  think, 
daddy,  that  such  a  very  young  gentleman  as 
you  are,  such  a  regular  roaring  young  blade, 
might  —  u'm  — might ': 

"Might  what,  my  dear?" 

"Might ':     She    leaned    forward    and 

whispered  in  his  ear. 

A  hand  went  to  his  throat. 

"Eh,  why,  is  this  one r 

"I'm  afraid  it  is,  daddy  —  very!" 

"We've  been  so  upset  I  guess  your  aunt  must 
have  forgotten  to  put  out  a  clean  one  for  me. " 

"And  I  suppose  it  never  occurred  to  the  pro- 
found scientific  intellect  that  it  was  possible 
for  one  to  pull  out  a  drawer  and  take  out  a 
collar  for  one's  self. "  She  crossed  to  the  bureau 
and  came  back  with  a  clean  collar.  "Now, 
sir  —  up  with  your  chin!"  With  quick  hands 
she  replaced  the  offending  collar  with  the  fresh 
one,  tied  the  tie  and  gave  it  a  perfecting  little 
pat.  "There  —  that's  better!  And  now  I 
must  be  off.  I'll  send  around  a  few  policemen 
to  keep  the  crowds  off  Aunt  Rachel's  flower- 
beds." 

And  pressing  on  his  pale  cheek  another  kiss, 
and  smiling  at  him  from  the  door,  she  hurried 
out. 


CHAPTER  IV 


DOCTOR  WEST'S  LAWYER 


KYTHERINE'S  refusal  of  Harrison  Blake's 
unforeseen  proposal,  during  the  sum- 
mer she  had  graduated  from  Vassar, 
had,  until  the  present  hour,  been  the  most  painful 
experience  of  her  life. 

Ever  since  that  far-away  autumn  of  her 
fourteenth  year  when  Blake  had  led  an  at-first 
forlorn  crusade  against  "Blind  Charlie"  Peck 
and  swept  that  apparently  unconquerable  auto- 
crat and  his  corrupt  machine  from  power,  she 
had  admired  Blake  as  the  ideal  public  man.  He 
had  seemed  so  fine,  so  big  already,  and  loomed 
so  large  in  promise  —  it  was  the  fall  following 
his  proposal  that  he  was  elected  lieutenant- 
governor  —  that  it  had  been  a  humiliation  to 
her  that  she,  so  insignificant,  so  unworthy, 
could  not  give  him  that  intractable  passion, 
love.  But  though  he  had  gone  very  pale  at 
her  stammered  answer,  he  had  borne  his  dis- 
appointment like  a  gallant  gentleman;  and  in 
the  years  since  then  he  had  acquitted  himself 
to  perfection  in  that  most  difficult  of  roles, 

49 


So  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

the  lover  who  must  be  content  to  be  mere 
friend. 

Katherine  still  retained  her  girlish  admi- 
ration of  Mr.  Blake.  Despite  his  having  been 
so  conspicuous  at  the  forefront  of  public  affairs, 
no  scandal  had  ever  soiled  his  name.  His 
rectitude,  so  said  people  whose  memories  ran 
back  a  generation,  was  due  mainly  to  fine  qual- 
ities inherited  from  his  mother,  for  his  father 
had  been  a  good-natured,  hearty,  popular  poli- 
tician with  no  discoverable  bias  toward  over- 
scrupulosity.  In  fact,  twenty  years  ago  there 
had  been  a  great  to-do  touching  the  voting, 
through  a  plan  of  the  elder  Blake's  devising, 
of  a  gang  of  negroes  half  a  dozen  times  down  in 
a  river-front  ward.  But  his  party  ha  rushed 
loyally  to  his  rescue,  and  had  vindicated  him  by 
sending  him  to  Congress;  and  his  sudden  death 
on  the  day  after  taking  his  seat  had  at  the  time 
abashed  all  accusation,  and  had  suffused  his 
memory  with  a  romantic  afterglow  of  sentiment. 

Blake  lived  alone  with  his  mother  in  a  house 
adjoining  the  Wests',  and  a  few  moments 
after  Katherine  had  left  her  father  she  turned 
into  the  Blakes'  yard.  The  house  stood  far 
back  in  a  spacious  lawn,  shady  with  broad  maples 
and  aspiring  pines,  and  set  here  and  there  with 
shrubs  and  flower-beds  and  a  fountain  whose 
misty  spray  hung  a  golden  aureole  upon  the 
sunlight.  It  was  quite  worthy  of  Westville's 


DOCTOR  WEST'S  LAWYER  51 

most  distinguished  citizen  —  a  big,  roomy  house 
of  brick,  its  sterner  lines  all  softened  with  cool 
ivy,  and  with  a  wide  piazza  crossing  its  entire 
front  and  embracing  its  two  sides. 

The  hour  was  that  at  which  Westville  arose 
from  its  accustomed  mid-day  dinner  —  which 
was  the  reason  Katherine  was  calling  at  Blake's 
home  instead  of  going  downtown  to  his  office. 
She  was  informed  that  he  was  in.  Telling  the 
maid  she  would  await  him  in  his  library,  where 
she  knew  he  received  all  clients  who  called  on 
business  at  his  home,  she  ascended  the  well- 
remembered  stairway  and  entered  a  large,  light 
room  with  walls  booked  to  the  ceiling. 

Despite  her  declaration  to  her  father  that  that 
old  love  episode  had  been  long  forgotten  by  Mr. 
Blake,  at  this  moment  it  was  not  forgotten  by 
her.  She  could  not  subdue  a  fluttering  agitation 
over  the  circumstance  that  she  was  about  to  ap- 
peal for  succour  to  a  man  she  had  once  refused. 

She  had  but  a  moment  to  wait.  Blake's 
tall,  straight  figure  entered  and  strode  rapidly 
across  the  room,  his  right  hand  outstretched. 

"What  —  you,  Katherine!  I'm  so  glad  to 
see  you!" 

She  had  risen.  "And  I  to  see  you,  Mr. 
Blake."  For  all  he  had  once  vowed  himself 
her  lover,  she  had  never  overcome  her  girlhood 
awe  of  him  sufficiently  to  use  the  more  familiar 
"Harrison." 


52  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I  knew  you  were  coming  home,  but  I  had 
not  expected  to  see  you  so  soon.  Please  sit 
down  again." 

She  resumed  her  soft  leather-covered  chair, 
and  he  took  the  swivel  chair  at  his  great  flat- 
topped  library  desk.  His  manner  was  most 
cordial,  but  lurking  beneath  it  Katherine  sensed 
a  certain  constraint  —  due  perhaps,  to  their 
old  relationship  —  perhaps  due  to  meeting  a 
friend  involved  in  a  family  disgrace. 

Blake  was  close  upon  forty,  with  a  dark, 
strong,  handsome  face,  penetrating  but  pleasant 
eyes,  and  black  hair  slightly  marked  with  gray. 
He  was  well  dressed  but  not  too  well  dressed,  as 
became  a  public  man  whose  following  was 
largely  of  the  country.  His  person  gave  an 
immediate  impression  of  a  polished  but  not  over- 
polished  gentleman  —  of  a  man  who  in  acquir- 
ing a  large  grace  of  manner,  has  lost  nothing  of 
virility  and  bigness  and  purpose. 

"It  seems  quite  natural,"  Katherine  began, 
smiling,  and  trying  to  speak  lightly,  "that  each 
time  I  come  home  it  is  to  congratulate  you  upon 
some  new  honour." 

"New  honour?"  queried  he. 

"Oh,  your  name  reaches  even  to  New  York! 
We  hear  that  you  are  spoken  of  to  succeed 
Senator  Grayson  when  he  retires  next  year." 

"Oh,  that!"  He  smiled  —  still  with  some 
constraint.  "I  won't  try  to  make  you  believe 


DOCTOR  WEST'S  LAWYER  53 

that  I'm  indifferent  about  the  matter.  But  I 
don't  need  to  tell  you  that  there's  many  a  slip 
betwixt  being  'spoken  of  and  actually  being 
chosen. " 

There  was  an  instant  of  awkward  silence. 
Then  Katherine  went  straight  to  the  business 
of  her  visit. 

"Of  course  you  know  about  father." 

He  nodded.  "And  I  do  not  need  to  say, 
Katherine,  how  very,  very  sorry  I  am." 

"I  was  certain  of  your  sympathy.  Things 
look  black  on  the  surface  for  him,  but  I  want 
you  to  know  that  he  is  innocent. " 

"I  am  relieved  to  be  assured  of  that,"  he 
said,  hesitatingly.  "For,  frankly,  as  you  say, 
things  do  look  black. " 

She  leaned  forward  and  spoke  rapidly,  her 
hands  tightly  clasped. 

"I  have  come  to  see  you,  Mr.  Blake,  be- 
cause you  have  always  been  our  friend  —  my 
friend,  and  a  kinder  friend  than  a  young  girl 
had  any  right  to  expect  —  because  I  know  you 
have  the  ability  to  bring  out  the  truth  no  matter 
how  dark  the  circumstantial  evidence  may 
seem.  I  have  come,  Mr.  Blake,  to  ask  you, 
to  beg  you,  to  be  my  father's  lawyer. " 

He  stared  at  her,  and  his  face  grew  pale. 

"To  be  your  father's  lawyer?"  he  repeated. 

"Yes,  yes  —  to  be  my  father's  lawyer. " 

He  turned  in  his  chair  and  looked  out  to  where 


54  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

the  fountain  was  flinging  its  iridescent  drapery 
to  the  wind.  She  gazed  at  his  strong,  clean- 
cut  profile  in  breathless  expectation. 

"I  again  assure  you  he  is  innocent,"  she 
urged  pleadingly.  "I  know  you  can  clear  him." 

"You  have  evidence  to  prove  his  innocence?" 
asked  Blake. 

"That  you  can  easily  uncover." 

He  slowly  swung  about.  Though  with  all 
his  powerful  will  he  strove  to  control  himself, 
he  was  profoundly  agitated,  and  he  spoke  with 
a  very  great  effort. 

"You  have  put  me  in  a  most  embarrassing 
situation,  Katherine." 

She  caught  her  breath. 

"You  mean?" 

"I  mean  that  I  should  like  to  help  you,  but 
—  but-  -" 

"Yes?    Yes?" 

"But  I  cannot." 

"Cannot!     You  mean  —  you  refuse  his  case?" 

"It  pains  me,  but  I  must." 

She  grew  as  white  as  death. 

"Oh!"  she  breathed.  "Oh!"  She  gazed 
at  him,  lips  wide,  in  utter  dismay. 

Suddenly  she  seized  his  arm.  "But  you  have 
not  yet  thought  it  over  —  you  have  not  con- 
sidered,"  she  cried  rapidly.  "I  cannot  take 
no  for  your  answer.  I  beg  you,  I  implore  you, 
to  take  the  case." 


DOCTOR  WEST'S  LAWYER  55 

He  seemed  to  be  struggling  between  two 
desires.  A  slender,  well-knit  hand  stretched 
out  and  clutched  a  ruler;  his  brow  was  moist; 
but  he  kept  silent. 

"Mr.  Blake,  I  beg  you,  I  implore  you,  to  re- 
consider, "  she  feverishly  pursued.  "Do  you 
not  see  what  it  will  mean  to  my  father?  If  you 
take  the  case,  he  is  as  good  as  cleared!" 

His  voice  came  forth  low  and  husky.  "It 
is  because  it  is  beyond  my  power  to  clear  him 
that  I  refuse. " 

"Beyond  your  power?" 

"Listen,  Katherine,"  he  answered.  "I  am 
glad  you  believe  your  father  innocent.  The 
faith  you  have  is  the  faith  a  daughter  ought  to 
have.  I  do  not  want  to  hurt  you,  but  I  must 
tell  you  the  truth  —  I  do  not  share  your  faith. " 

"You  refuse,  then,  because  you  think  him 
guilty?" 

He  inclined  his  head.  "The  evidence  is 
conclusive.  It  is  beyond  my  power,  beyond  the 
power  of  any  lawyer,  to  clear  him." 

This  sudden  failure  of  the  aid  she  had  so 
confidently  counted  as  already  hers,  was  a  blow 
that  for  the  moment  completely  stunned  her. 
She  sank  back  in  her  chair  and  her  head  dropped 
down  into  her  hands. 

Blake  wiped  his  face  with  his  handkerchief. 
After  a  moment,  he  went  on  in  an  agitated, 
persuasive  voice: 


56  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I  do  not  want  you  to  think,  because  I 
refuse,  that  I  am  any  less  your  friend.  If  I 
took  the  case,  and  did  my  best,  your  father 
would  be  convicted  just  the  same.  I  am  going 
to  open  my  heart  to  you,  Katherine.  I  should 
like  very  much  to  be  chosen  for  that  senatorship. 
Naturally,  I  do  not  wish  to  do  any  useless  thing 
that  will  impair  my  chances.  Now  for  me,  an 
aspirant  for  public  favour,  to  champion  against 
the  aroused  public  the  case  of  a  man  who  has 
—  forgive  me  the  word  —  who  has  betrayed 
that  public,  and  in  the  end  to  lose  that  case,  as 
I  most  certainly  should  —  it  would  be  nothing 
less  than  political  suicide.  Your  father  would 
gain  nothing.  I  would  lose  —  perhaps  every- 
thing. Don't  you  see?" 

"I  follow  your  reasons,"  she  said  brokenly 
into  her  hands,  "I  do  not  blame  you  —  I  accept 
your  answer  —  but  I  still  believe  my  father 
innocent. " 

"And  for  that  faith,  as  I  told  you,  I  admire 
and  honour  you. " 

She  slowly  rose.     He  likewise  stood  up. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  he  asked. 

"I  do  not  know,"  she  answered  dully.  "I 
was  so  confident  of  your  aid,  that  I  had  thought 
of  no  alternative. " 

"Your  father  has  tried  other  lawyers?" 

"Yes.  They  have  all  refused.  You  can 
guess  their  reason." 


DOCTOR  WEST'S  LAWYER  57 

He  was  silent  for  an  instant. 

"Why  not  take  the  case  yourself?" 

"I  take  the  case!"  cried  Katherine,  amazed. 

"Yes.     You  are  a  lawyer. " 

"But  I  have  never  handled  a  case  in  court! 
I  am  not  even  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  state. 

And,  besides,  a  woman  lawyer  in  Westville 

No,  it's  quite  out  of  the  question. " 

"I  was  only  suggesting  it,  you  know,"  he 
said  apologetically. 

"Oh,  I  realized  you  did  not  mean  it  seriously." 

Her  face  grew  ashen  as  her  failure  came  to 
her  afresh.  She  gazed  at  him  with  a  final  desper- 
ation. 

"Then  your  answer  —  it  is  final?" 

"I  am  sorry,  but  it  is  final,"  said  he. 

Her  head  dropped. 

"Thank  you,"  she  said  dully.  "Good-by." 
And  she  started  away. 

"Wait,  Katherine." 

She  paused,  and  he  came  to  her  side.  His 
features  were  gray-hued  and  were  twitching 
strangely;  for  an  instant  she  had  the  wild 
impression  that  his  old  love  for  her  still 
lived. 

"I  am  sorry  that  —  that  the  first  time  you 
asked  aid  of  me  —  I  should  fail  you.  But  — 
but- 

"I  understand." 

"One  word  more."     But  he  let  several  mo- 


58  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

ments  pass  before  he  spoke  it,  and  he  wet  his  lips 
continually.  "Remember,  I  am  still  your  friend. 
Though  I  cannot  take  the  case,  I  shall  be 
glad,  in  a  private  way,  to  advise  you  upon  any 
matters  you  may  care  to  lay  before  me. " 

"You  are  very  good." 

"Then  you  accept?" 

"How  can  I  refuse?    Thank  you." 

He  accompanied  her  down  the  stairway  and 
to  the  door.  Heavy-hearted,  she  returned  home. 
This  was  sad  news  to  bring  her  father,  whom 
but  half  an  hour  before  s]ie  had  so  confidently 
cheered;  and  she  knew  not  in  what  fresh  direction 
to  turn  for  aid. 

She  went  straight  up  to  her  father's  room. 
With  him  she  found  a  stranger,  who  had  a  vague, 
far-distant  familiarity. 

The  two  men  rose. 

"This  is  my  daughter,"  said  Doctor  West. 

The  stranger  bowed  slightly. 

"I  have  heard  of  Miss  West,"  he  said,  and  in 
his  manner  Katherine's  quick  instinct  read 
strong  preconceived  disapprobation. 

"And,  Katherine,"  continued  her  father,  "this 
is  Mr.  Bruce." 

She  stopped  short. 

"Mr.  Bruce  of  the  Express?" 

"Of  the   Express,"   Bruce   calmly   repeated. 

Her  dejected  figure  grew  suddenly  tense, 
and  her  cheeks  glowed  with  hot  colour.  She 


DOCTOR  WEST'S  LAWYER  59 

moved  up  before  the  editor  and  gazed  with 
flashing  eyes  into  his  square-jawed  face. 

"  So  you  are  the  man  who  wrote  those  brutal 
things  about  father?" 

He  bristled  at  her  hostile  tone  and  manner, 
and  there  was  a  quick  snapping  behind  the 
heavy  glasses. 

"I  am  the  man  who  wrote  those  true  things 
about  your  father,"  he  said  with  cold  emphasis. 

"And  after  that  you  dare  come  into  this 
house!" 

"Pardon  me,  Miss  West,  but  a  newspaper 
man  dares  go  wherever  his  business  takes  him. " 

She  was  trembling  all  over. 

"Then  let  me  inform  you  that  you  have  no 
business  here.  Neither  my  father  nor  myself 
has  anything  whatever  to  say  to  yellow  jour- 
nalists!" 

"Katherine!  Katherine!"  interjected  her 
father. 

Bruce  bowed,  his  face  a  dull  red. 

"I  shall  leave,  Miss  West,  just  as  soon  as 
Doctor  West  answers  jmy  last  question.  I 
called  to  see  if  he  wished  to  make  any  statement, 
and  I  was  asking  him  about  his  lawyer.  He  told 
me  he  had  as  yet  secured  none,  but  that  you 
were  applying  to  Mr.  Blake." 

Doctor  West  stepped  toward  her  eagerly. 

"Yes,  Katherine.  what  did  he  say?  Will  he 
take  the  case?" 


60  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

She  turned  from  Bruce,  and  as  she  looked 
into  the  white,  worn  face  of  her  father,  the 
fire  of  her  anger  went  out. 

"He  said --he  said " 

"Yes  — yes?" 

She  put  her  arms  about  him. 

"Don't  you  mind,  father  dear,  what  he  said." 

Doctor  West  grew  yet  more  pale. 

"Then  —  he  said — the  same  as  the  others?" 

She  held  him  tight. 

"Dear  daddy!" 

"Then  — he  refused?" 

"Yes  —  but  don't  you  mind  it,"  she  tried 
to  say  bravely. 

Without  a  sound,  the  old  man's  head  dropped 
upon  his  chest.  He  held  to  Katherine  a  moment; 
then  he  moved  waveringly  to  an  old  haircloth 
sofa,  sank  down  upon  it  and  bowed  his  face 
into  his  hands. 

Bruce  broke  the  silence. 

"I  am  to  understand,  then,  that  your  father 
has  no  lawyer?" 

Katherine  wheeled  from  the  bowed  figure, 
and  her  anger  leaped  instantly  to  a  white  heat. 

"And  why  has  he  no  lawyer?"  she  cried. 
"Because  of  the  inhuman  things  you  wrote 
about  him!" 

"You  forget,  Miss  West,  that  I  am  running  a 
newspaper,  and  it  is  my  business  to  print  the 
news- " 


DOCTOR  WEST'S  LAWYER  61 

"The  news,  yes;  but  not  a  malignant,  ferocious 
distortion  of  the  news!  Look  at  my  father 
there.  Does  it  not  fill  your  soul  with  shame 
to  think  of  the  black  injustice  you  have  done 
him?" 

"Mere  sentiment!  Understand,  I  do  not 
let  conventional  sentiment  stand  between  me 
and  my  duty." 

"Your  duty!"  There  was  a  world  of  scorn  in 
her  voice.  "And,  pray,  what  is  your  duty?" 

"Part  of  it  is  to  establish,  and  maintain, 
decent  standards  of  public  service  in  this  town." 

"  Don't  hide  behind  that  hypocritical  pretence ! 
I've  heard  about  you.  I  know  the  sort  of  man 
you  are.  You  saw  a  safe  chance  for  a  yellow 
story  for  your  yellow  newspaper,  a  safe  chance 
to  gain  prominence  by  yelping  at  the  head  of 
the  pack.  If  he  had  been  a  rich  man,  if  he  had 
had  a  strong  political  party  behind  him,  would 
you  have  dared  assail  him  as  you  have?  Never! 
Oh,  it  was  brutal  —  infamous  —  cowardly!" 

There  was  an  angry  fire  behind  the  editor's 
thick  glasses,  and  his  square  chin  thrust  itself 
out.  He  took  a  step  nearer. 

"Listen  to  me!"  he  commanded  in  a  slow, 
defiant  voice.  "Your  opinion  is  to  me  a  mat- 
ter of  complete  indifference.  I  tell  you  that  a 
man  who  betrays  his  city  is  a  traitor,  and  that 
I  would  treat  an  old  traitor  exactly  as  I  would 
treat  a  young  traitor,  I  tell  you  that  I  take  it 


62  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

as  a  sign  of  an  awakening  public  conscience  when 
reputable  lawyers  refuse  to  defend  a  man  who  has 
done  what  your  father  has  done.  And,  finally, 
I  predict  that,  try  as  you  may,  you  will  not  be 
able  to  find  a  decent  lawyer  who  will  dare  to 
take  his  case.  And  I  glory  in  it,  and  consider 
it  the  result  of  my  work!"  He  bowed  to  her. 
"And  now,  Miss  West,  I  wish  you  good  after- 


noon.' 


She  stood  quivering,  gasping,  while  he  crossed 
to  the  door.  As  his  hand  fell  upon  the  knob 
she  sprang  forward. 

"Wait!"  she  cried.  "Wait!  He  has  a  law- 
yer!" 

He  paused. 

"Indeed!    And  whom?" 

"One  who  is  going  to  make  you  take  back 
every  cowardly  word  you  have  printed!" 

"Who  is  it,  Katherine?"  It  was  her  father 
who  spoke. 

She  turned.  Doctor  West  had  raised  his 
head,  and  in  his  eyes  was  an  eager,  hopeful 
light.  She  bent  over  him  and  slipped  an  arm 
about  his  shoulders. 

"Father  dear,"  she  quavered,  "since  we 
can  get  no  one  else,  will  you  take  me?" 

"Take  you?"  he  exclaimed. 

"Because,"  she  quavered  on,  "whether  you 
will  or  not,  I'm  going  to  stay  in  Westville  and 
be  your  lawyer." 


CHAPTER  V 

KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE 

FOR  a  long  space  after  Bruce  had  gone 
Katherine  sat  quiveringly  upon  the 
old  haircloth  sofa  beside  her  father, 
holding  his  hands  tightly,  caressingly.  Her 
words  tumbled  hotly  from  her  lips  —  words  of 
love  of  him  —  of  resentment  of  the  injustice 
which  he  suffered  —  and,  fiercest  of  all,  of  wrath 
against  Editor  Bruce,  who  had  so  ruthlessly, 
and  for  such  selfish  ends,  incited  the  popular 
feeling  against  him.  She  would  make  such  a 
fight  as  Westville  had  never  seen!  She  would 
show  those  lawyers  who  had  been  reduced 
to  cowards  by  Bruce's  demagogy!  She  would 
bring  the  town  humiliated  to  her  father's  feet! 
But  emotion  has  not  only  peaks,  but  plains, 
and  dark  valleys.  As  she  cooled  and  her  pas- 
sion descended  to  a  less  exalted  level,  she  began 
to  see  the  difficulties  of,  and  her  unfitness 
for,  the  role  she  had  so  impulsively  accepted. 
An  uneasiness  for  the  future  crept  upon  her. 
As  she  had  told  Mr.  Blake,  she  had  never 
handled  a  case  in  court.  True,  she  had  been  a 

63 


64     COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

member  of  the  bar  for  two  years,  but  her  duties 
with  the  Municipal  League  had  consisted  al- 
most entirely  in  working  up  evidence  in  cases 
of  municipal  corruption  for  the  use  of  her  legal 
superiors.  An  untried  lawyer,  and  a  woman 
lawyer  at  that  —  surely  a  weak  reed  for  her 
father  to  lean  upon! 

But  she  had  thrown  down  the  gage  of  battle; 
she  had  to  fight,  since  there  was  no  other  cham- 
pion; and  even  in  this  hour  of  emotion,  when 
tears  were  so  plenteous  and  every  word  was 
accompanied  by  a  caress,  she  began  to  plan 
the  preliminaries  of  her  struggle. 

"I  shall  write  to-night  to  the  league  for  a 
leave  of  absence,"  she  said.  "One  of  the  things 
I  must  see  to  at  once  is  to  get  admitted  to  the 
state  bar.  Do  you  know  when  your  case  is  to 
come  up?" 

"It  has  been  put  over  to  the  September 
term  of  court." 

"That  gives  me  four  months." 

She  was  silently  thoughtful  for  a  space. 
"I've  got  to  work  hard,  hard!  upon  your  case. 
As  I  see  it  now,  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  you 
that  the  situation  has  arisen  from  a  misunder- 
standing —  that  the  agent  thought  you  ex- 
pected a  bribe,  and  that  you  thought  the  bribe 
a  small  donation  to  the  hospital." 

"I'm  certain  that's  how  it  is,"  said  her  father. 

"Then  the  thing  to  do  is  to  see  Doctor  Sher- 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE   65 

man,  and  if  possible  the  agent,  have  them  re- 
peat their  testimony  and  try  to  search  out  in  it 
the  clue  to  the  mistake.  And  that  I  shall  see 
to  at  once. " 

Five  minutes  later  Katherine  left  the  house. 
After  walking  ten  minutes  through  the  quiet, 
maple-shaded  back  streets  she  reached  the 
Wabash  Avenue  Church,  whose  rather  ponder- 
ous pile  of  Bedford  stone  was  the  most  ambitious 
and  most  frequented  place  of  worship  in  West- 
ville,  and  whose  bulk  was  being  added  to  by  a 
lecture  room  now  rising  against  its  side. 

Katherine  went  up  a  gravelled  walk  toward 
a  cottage  that  stood  beneath  the  church's 
shadow.  The  house's  front  was  covered  with  a 
wide-spreading  rose  vine,  a  tapestry  of  rich  green 
which  June  would  gorgeously  embroider  with 
sprays  of  heart-red  roses.  The  cottage  looked 
what  Katherine  knew  it  was,  a  bower  of 
lovers. 

Her  ring  was  answered  by  a  fair,  fragile  young 
woman  whose  eyes  were  the  colour  of  faith  and 
loyalty.  A  faint  colour  crept  into  the  young 
woman's  pale  cheeks. 

"  Why  —  Katherine  —  why  —  why  —  I  don't 

know  what  you  think  of  us,  but  —  but ?: 

She  could  stammer  out  no  more,  but  stood  in 
the  doorway  in  distressed  uncertainty. 

Katherine's  answer  was  to  stretch  out  her 
arms.  "Elsie  I" 


66  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Instantly  the  two  old  friends  were  in  a  close 
embrace. 

"I  haven't  slept,  Katherine,"  sobbed  Mrs. 
Sherman,  "for  thinking  of  what  you  would 
think " 

"  I  think  that,  whatever  has  happened,  I  love 
you  just  the  same. " 

"Thank  you  for  saying  it,  Katherine."  Mrs. 
Sherman  gazed  at  her  in  tearful  gratitude. 
"I  can't  tell  you  how  we  have  suffered  over  this 
—  this  affair.  Oh,  if  you  only  knew ! " 

It  was  instinctive  with  Katherine  to  soothe 
the  pain  of  others,  though  suffering  herself. 
"I  am  certain  Doctor  Sherman  acted  from  the 
highest  motives,"  she  assured  the  young  wife. 
"So  say  no  more  about  it." 

They  had  entered  the  little  sitting-room, 
hung  with  soft  white  muslin  curtains.  "But 
at  the  same  time,  Elsie,  I  cannot  believe 
my  father  guilty,"  Katherine  went  on.  "And 
though  I  honour  your  husband,  why,  even  the 
noblest  man  can  be  mistaken.  My  hope  of 
proving  my  father's  innocence  is  based  on  the 
belief  that  Doctor  Sherman  may  somehow  have 
made  a  mistake.  At  any  rate,  I'd  like  to  talk 
over  his  evidence  with  him. " 

"He's  trying  to  work  on  his  sermon,  though 
he's  too  worn  to  think.  I'll  bring  him  right  in." 

She  passed  through  a  door  into  the  study, 
and  a  moment  later  reentered  with  Doctor 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE   67 

Sherman.  The  present  meeting  would  have  been 
painful  to  an  ordinary  person;  doubly  so  was  it 
to  such  a  hyper-sensitive  nature.  The  young 
clergyman  stood  hesitant  just  within  the  door- 
way, his  usual  pallor  greatly  deepened,  his  thin 
fingers  intertwisted  —  in  doubt  how  to  greet 
Katherine  till  she  stretched  out  her  hand  to 
him. 

"I  want  you  to  understand,  Katherine  dear," 
little  Mrs.  Sherman  put  in  quickly,  with  a  look 
of  adoration  at  her  husband,  "that  Edgar  reached 
the  decision  to  take  the  action  he  did  only  after 
days  of  agony.  You  know,  Katherine,  Doctor 
West  was  always  as  kind  to  me  as  another 
father,  and  I  loved  him  almost  like  one.  At 
first  I  begged  Edgar  not  to  do  anything.  Edgar 
walked  the  floor  for  nights  —  suffering!  —  oh, 
how  you  suffered,  Edgar!" 

"Isn't  it  a  little  incongruous,"  said  Doctor 
Sherman,  smiling  wanly  at  her,  "for  the  instru- 
ment that  struck  the  blow  to  complain,  in  the 
presence  of  the  victim,  of  his  suffering?" 

"But  I  want  her  to  know  it!"  persisted  the 
wife.  "She  must  know  it  to  do  you  justice, 
dear!  It  seemed  at  first  disloyal  —  but  finally 
Edgar  decided  that  his  duty  to  the  city ): 

"Please  say  no  more,  Elsie."  Katherine 
turned  to  the  pale  young  minister.  "Doctor 
Sherman,  I  have  not  come  to  utter  one  single 
word  of  recrimination.  I  have  come  merely 


68  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

to  ask  you  to  tell  me  all  you  know  about  the 


case.' 


"I  shall  be  glad  to  do  so." 

"And  could  I  also  talk  with  Mr.  Marcy,  the 
agent?" 

"He  has  left  the  city,  and  will  not  return  till 
the  trial. " 

Katherine  was  disappointed  by  this  news. 
Doctor  Sherman,  though  obviously  pained 
by  the  task,  rehearsed  in  minutest  detail  the 
charges  he  had  made  against  Doctor  West, 
which  charges  he  would  later  have  to  repeat 
upon  the  witness  stand.  Also  he  recounted 
Mr.  Marcy's  story.  Katherine  scrutinized  every 
point  in  these  two  stories  for  the  loose  end,  the 
loop-hole,  the  flaw,  she  had  thought  to  find.  But 
flaw  there  was  none.  The  stories  were  perfectly 
straightforward. 

Katherine  walked  slowly  away,  still  going 
over  and  over  Doctor  Sherman's  testimony. 
Doctor  Sherman  was  telling  the  indubitable 
truth  —  yet  her  father  was  indubitably  in- 
nocent. It  was  a  puzzling  case,  this  her  first 
case  —  a  puzzling,  most  puzzling  case. 

When  she  reached  home  she  was  told  by  her 
aunt  that  a  gentleman  was  waiting  to  see  her. 
She  entered  the  big,  old-fashioned  parlour,  fresh 
and  tasteful  despite  the  stiff  black  walnut  that, 
in  the  days  of  her  mother's  marriage,  had  been 
spread  throughout  the  land  as  beauty  by  the 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE   69 

gentlemen  who  dealt  conjointly  in  furniture 
and  coffins. 

From  a  chair  there  rose  a  youthful  and  some- 
what corpulent  presence,  with  a  chubby  and 
very  serious  pink  face  that  sat  in  a  glossy  high 
collar  as  in  a  cup.  He  smiled  with  a  blushful 
but  ingratiating  dignity. 

"Don't  you  remember  me?  I'm  Charlie 
Horn." 

"Oh!"  And  instinctively,  as  if  to  identify 
him  by  Charlie  Horn's  well-remembered  straw- 
berry-marks, Katherine  glanced  at  his  hands. 
But  they  were  clean,  and  the  warts  were  gone. 
She  looked  at  him  in  doubt.  "You  can't  be 
Nellie  Horn's  little  brother?" 

"I'm  not  so  little,"  he  said,  with  some  re- 
sentment. "Since  you  knew  me,"  he  added  a 
little  grandiloquently,  "I've  graduated  from 
Bloomington. " 

"Please  pardon  me!  It  was  kind  of  you  to 
call,  and  so  soon." 

"Well,  you  see  I  came  on  business.  I  suppose 
you  have  seen  this  afternoon's  Express?" 

She  instinctively  stiffened. 

"I  have  not."  ' 

He  drew  out  a  copy  of  the  Express,  opened  it, 
and  pointed  a  plump,  pinkish  forefinger  at  the 
beginning  of  an  article  on  the  first  page. 

"You  see  the  Express  says  you  are  going 
to  be  your  father's  lawyer. " 


70  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Katharine  read  the  indicated  paragraphs. 
Her  colour  heightened.  The  statement  was 
blunt  and  bare,  but  between  the  lines  she 
read  the  contemptuous  disapproval  of  the  "new 
woman"  that  a  few  hours  since  Bruce  had  dis- 
played before  her.  Again  her  anger  toward 
Bruce  flared  up. 

"I  am  a  reporter  for  the  Clarion,"  young 
Charlie  Horn  announced,  striving  not  to  appear 
too  proud.  "And  I've  come  to  interview  you." 

"  Interview  me  ? "  she  cried  in  dismay.  "What 
about?" 

"Well,  you  see,"  said  he,  with  his  benign 
smile,  "you're  the  first  woman  lawyer  that's 
ever  been  in  Westville.  It's  almost  a  bigger 
sensation  than  your  fath  —  you  see,  it's  a  big 
story. " 

He  drew  from  his  pocket  a  bunch  of  copy 
paper.  "I  want  you  to  tell  me  about  how  you 
are  going  to  handle  the  case.  And  about  what 
you  think  a  woman  lawyer's  prospects  are  in 
Westville.  And  about  what  you  think  will  be 
woman's  status  in  future  society.  And  you 
might  tell  me,"  concluded  young  Charlie  Horn, 
"who  your  favourite  author  is,  and  what  you 
think  of  golf.  That  last  will  interest  our  readers, 
for  our  country  club  is  very  popular." 

It  had  been  the  experience  of  Nellie  Horn's 
brother  that  the  good  people  of  Westville  were 
quite  willing  —  nay,  even  had  a  subdued  eager- 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE   71 

ness  —  to  discourse  about  themselves,  and  whom 
they  had  visited  over  Sunday,  and  who  was 
"Sundaying"  with  them,  and  what  beauties  had 
impressed  them  most  at  Niagara  Falls;  and  so 
that  confident  young  ambassador  from  the 
Clarion  was  somewhat  dazed  when,  a  moment 
later,  he  found  himself  standing  alone  on  the 
West  doorstep  with  a  dim  sense  of  having  been 
politely  and  decisively  wished  good  afternoon. 

But  behind  him  amid  the  stiff,  dark,  solemn- 
visaged  furniture  (Calvinists,  every  chair  of 
them!)  he  left  a  person  far  more  dazed  than 
himself.  Charlie  Home's  call  had  brought 
sharply  home  to  Katherine  a  question  that,  in 
the  press  of  affairs,  she  hardly  had  as  yet  con- 
sidered —  how  was  Westville  going  to  take  to 
a  woman  lawyer  being  in  its  midst?  She  real- 
ized, with  a  chill  of  apprehension,  how  pro- 
foundly this  question  concerned  her  next  few 
months.  Dear,  bustling,  respectable  West- 
ville, she  well  knew,  clung  to  its  own  idea  of 
woman's  sphere  as  to  a  thing  divinely  ordered, 
and  to  seek  to  leave  which  was  scarcely  less  than 
rebellion  against  high  God.  In  patriarchal  days, 
when  heaven's  justice  had  been  prompter,  such 
a  disobedient  one  would  suddenly  have  found 
herself  rebuked  into  a  bit  of  saline  statuary. 

Katherine  vividly  recalled,  when  she  had 
announced  her  intention  to  study  law,  what  a 
raising  of  hands  there  was,  what  a  loud  regret- 


72  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

ting  that  she  had  not  a  mother.  But  since  she 
had  not  settled  in  Westville,  and  since  she  had 
not  been  actively  practising  in  New  York,  the 
town  had  become  partially  reconciled.  But 
this  step  of  hers  was  new,  without  a  precedent. 
How  would  Westville  take  it? 

Her  brain  burned  with  this  and  other  mat- 
ters all  afternoon,  all  evening,  and  till  the  dawn 
began  to  edge  in  and  crowd  the  shadows  from 
her  room.  But  when  she  met  her  father  at  the 
breakfast  table  her  face  was  fresh  and  smiling. 

"Well,  how  is  my  client  this  morning?"  she 
asked  gaily.  "Do  you  realize,  daddy,  that  you 
are  my  first  really,  truly  client?" 

"And  I  suppose  you'll  be  charging  me  some- 
thing outrageous  as  a  fee!" 

"Something  like  this"  -kissing  him  on  the 
ear.  "But  how  do  you  feel?" 

"Certain  that  my  lawyer  will  win  my  case." 
He  smiled.  "And  how  are  you?" 

"Brimful  of  ideas." 

"Yes?    About  the- 

"Yes.  And  about  you.  First,  answer  a 
few  of  your  counsel's  questions.  Have  you  been 
doing  much  at  your  scientific  work  of  late?" 

"The  last  two  months,  since  the  water- works 
has  been  practically  completed,  I  have  spent 
almost  my  whole  time  at  it." 

"And  your  work  was  interesting?" 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE  73 

"Very.  You  see,  I  think  I  am  on  the  verge 
of  discovering  that  the  typhoid  bacillus >: 

"You'll  tell  me  all  about  that  later.  Now 
the  first  order  of  your  attorney  is,  just  as  soon 
as  you  have  finished  your  coffee  and  folded  your 
napkin,  back  you  go  to  your  laboratory. " 

"But,  Katherine,  with  this  affair " 

"This  affair,  worry  and  all,  has  been  shifted 
off  upon  your  eminent  counsel.  Work  will  keep 
you  from  worry,  so  back  you  go  to  your  dar- 
ling germs." 

"You're  mighty  good,  dear,  but >: 

"No  argument!  You've  got  to  do  just  what 
your  lawyer  tells  you.  And  now,"  she  added 
"as  I  may  have  to  be  seeing  a  lot  of  people, 
and  as  having  people  about  the  house  may  in- 
terrupt your  work,  I'm  going  to  take  an  office. " 

He  stared  at  her. 

"Take  an  office?" 

"Yes.  Who  knows  —  I  may  pick  up  a  few 
other  cases.  If  I  do,  I  know  who  can  use  the 
money. " 

"But  open  an  office  in  Westville!  Why, 
the  people Won't  it  be  a  little  more  un- 
pleasant  ':  He  paused  doubtfully.  "Did 

you  see  what  the  Express  had  to  say  about  you  ?" 

She  flushed,  but  smiled  sweetly. 

"What  the  Express  said  is  one  reason  why 
I'm  going  to  open  an  office." 

"Yes?" 


74  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I'm 'not  going  to  let  fear  of  that  Mr.  Bruce 
dictate  my  life.  And  since  I'm  going  to  be  a 
lawyer,  I'm  going  to  be  the  whole  thing.  And 
what's  more,  I'm  going  to  act  as  though  I  were 
doing  the  most  ordinary  thing  in  the  world. 
And  if  Mr.  Bruce  and  the  town  want  to  talk, 
why,  we'll  just  let  'em  talk!" 

"  But  —  but  —  aren't  you  afraid  ? " 

"Of  course  I'm  afraid,"  she  answered  promptly. 
"But  when  I  realize  that  I'm  afraid  to  do  a 
thing,  I'm  certain  that  that  is  just  exactly  the 
thing  for  me  to  do.  Oh,  don't  look  so  worried, 
dear"  —  she  leaned  across  and  kissed  him  — 
"for  I'm  going  to  be  the  perfectest,  properest, 
politest  lady  that  ever  scuttled  a  convention. 
And  nothing  is  going  to  happen  to  me  —  noth- 
ing at  all." 

Breakfast  finished,  Katherine  despotically 
led  her  father  up  to  his  laboratory.  A  little 
later  she  set  out  for  downtown,  looking  very 
fresh  in  a  blue  summer  dress  that  had  the  rare 
qualities  of  simplicity  and  grace.  Her  colour 
was  perhaps  a  little  warmer  than  was  usual, 
but  she  walked  along  beneath  the  maples  with 
tranquil  mien,  seemingly  unconscious  of  some 
people  she  passed,  giving  others  a  clear,  direct 
glance,  smiling  and  speaking  to  friends  and 
acquaintances  in  her  most  easy  manner. 

As  she  turned  into  Main  Street  the  intelli- 
gence that  she  was  coming  seemed  in  some 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE   75 

mysterious  way  to  speed  before  her.  Those 
exemplars  of  male  fashion,  the  dry  goods  clerks, 
craned  furtively  about  front  doors.  Bare- 
armed  and  aproned  proprietors  of  grocery 
stores  and  their  hirelings  appeared  beneath  the 
awnings  and  displayed  an  unprecedented  con- 
cern in  trying  to  resuscitate,  with  aid  of 
sprinkling-cans,  bunches  of  expiring  radishes 
and  young  onions.  Owners  of  amiable  steeds 
that  dozed  beside  the  curb  hurried  out  of 
cavernous  doors,  the  fear  of  run-away  writ 
large  upon  their  countenances,  to  see  if  a  buckle 
was  not  loose  or  a  tug  perchance  unfastened. 
Behind  her,  as  she  passed,  Main  Street  stood 
statued  in  mid-action,  strap  in  motionless 
hand,  sprinkling-can  tilting  its  entire  contents 
of  restorative  over  a  box  of  clothes-pins,  and 
gaped  and  stared.  This  was  epochal  for  West- 
ville.  Never  before  had  a  real,  live,  practising 
woman  lawyer  trod  the  cement  walk  of  Main 
Street. 

When  Katherine  came  to  Court  House  Square, 
she  crossed  to  the  south  side,  passed  the  Express 
Building,  and  made  for  the  Rollings  worth  Block, 
whose  first  floor  was  occupied  by  the  New  York 
Store's  "glittering  array  of  vast  and  profuse 
fashion."  Above  this  alluring  pageant  were 
two  floors  of  offices;  and  up  the  narrow  stair- 
way leading  thereunto  Katherine  mounted.  She 
entered  a  door  marked  "Hosea  Hollingsworth. 


76  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Attorney-at-Law.  Mortgages.  Loans.  Farms." 
In  the  room  were  a  table,  three  chairs,  a  case 
of  law  books,  a  desk,  on  the  top  of  the  desk  a 
"plug"  hat,  so  venerable  that  it  looked  a  very 
great-grandsire  of  hats,  and  two  cuspidors 
marked  with  chromatic  evidence  that  they  were 
not  present  for  ornament  alone. 

From  the  desk  there  rose  a  man,  perhaps 
seventy,  lean,  tall,  smooth-shaven,  slightly 
stooped,  dressed  in  a  rusty  and  wrinkled 
"Prince  Albert"  coat,  and  with  a  countenance 
that  looked  a  rank  plagiarism  of  the  mask  of 
Voltaire.  In  one  corner  of  his  thin  mouth, 
half  chewed  away,  was  an  unlighted  cigar. 

"I  believe  this  is  Mr.  Hollingsworth ? "  said 
Katherine.  The  question  was  purely  formal,  for 
his  lank  figure  was  one  of  her  earliest  memories. 

"Yes.  Come  right  in,"  he  returned  in  a 
high,  nasal  voice. 

She  drew  a  chair  away  from  the  environs  of 
the  cuspidors  and  sat  down.  He  resumed  his 
place  at  his  desk  and  peered  at  her  through  his 
spectacles,  and  a  dry,  almost  imperceptible 
smile  played  among  the  fine  wrinkles  of  his 
leathery  face. 

"And  I  believe  this  is  Katherine  West  —  our 
lady  lawyer,"  he  remarked.  "I  read  in  the 
Express  how  you ?: 

Bruce  was  on  her  nerves.  She  could  not 
restrain  a  sudden  flare  of  temper. 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE      77 

"The  editor  of  that  paper  is  a  cad!" 

"Well,  he  ain't  exactly  what  you  might  call 
a  hand-raised  gentleman,"  the  old  lawyer 
admitted.  "At  least,  I  never  heard  of  his 
exerting  himself  so  hard  to  be  polite  that  he 
strained  any  tendons." 

"You  know  him,  then?" 

"A  little.     He's  my  nephew. " 

"Oh!     I  remember." 

"And  we  live  together,"  the  old  man  loqua- 
ciously drawled  on,  eying  her  closely  with  a 
smile  that  might  have  been  either  good-natured 
or  satirical.  "Batch  it  —  with  a  nigger  who 
saves  us  work  by  stealing  things  we'd  otherwise 
have  to  take  care  of.  We  scrap  most  of  the 
time.  I  make  fun  of  him,  and  he  gets  sore. 
The  trouble  with  the  editor  of  the  Express  is, 
he  had  a  doting  ma.  He  should  have  had  an 
almighty  lot  of  thrashing  when  a  boy,  and  in- 
stead he  never  tasted  beech  limb  once.  He's 
suffering  from  the  spared  rod." 

Katherine  had  a  shrinking  from  this  old 
man;  an  aversion  which  in  her  mature  years 
she  had  had  no  occasion  to  examine,  but  which 
she  had  inherited  unanalyzed  from  her  child- 
hood, when  old  Hosie  Hollingsworth  had  been 
the  chief  scandal  of  the  town  —  an  infidel, 
who  had  dared  challenge  the  creation  of  the 
earth  in  seven  days,  and  yet  was  not  stricken 
down  by  a  fiery  bolt  from  heaven ! 


78  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

She  did  not  pursue  the  subject  of  Bruce,  but 
went  directly  to  her  business. 

"I  understand  that  you  have  an  office  to 
rent. " 

"So  I  have.     Like  to  see  it  ?" 

"That  is  what  I  called  for. " 

"Just  come  along  with  me." 

He  rose,  and  Katherine  followed  him  to  the 
floor  above  and  into  a  room  furnished  much 
as  the  one  she  had  just  left. 

"This  office  was  last  used,"  commented  old 
Hosie,  "by  a  young  fellow  who  taught  school 
down  in  Buck  Creek  Township  and  got  money 
to  study  law  with.  He  tried  law  for  a  while. " 
The  old  man's  thin  prehensile  lips  shifted 
his  cigar  to  the  other  side  of  his  mouth.  "He's 
down  in  Buck  Creek  Township  teaching  school 
to  get  money  to  pay  his  back  office  rent. " 

"How  about  the  furniture?"  asked  Katherine. 

"That  was  his.  He  left  it  in  part  payment. 
You  can  use  it  if  you  want  to. " 

"But  I  don't  want  those  things  about"  — 
pointing  gingerly  to  a  pair  of  cuspidors. 

"All  right.  Though  I  don't  see  how  you  ex- 
pect to  run  a  law  office  in  Westville  without 
'em. "  He  bent  over  and  took  them  in  his  hands. 
"I'll  take  'em  along.  I  need  a  few  more,  for 
my  business  is  picking  up." 

"I  suppose  I  can  have  possession  at  once." 

"Whenever  you  please." 


KATHERINE  PREPARES  FOR  BATTLE       79 

Standing  with  the  cuspidors  in  his  two  hands 
the  old  lawyer  looked  her  over.  He  slowly 
grinned,  and  a  dry  cackle  came  out  of  his  lean 
throat. 

"I  was  born  out  there  in  Buck  Creek  Town- 
ship myself,"  he  said.  "Folks  all  Quakers, 
same  as  your  ma's  and  your  Aunt  Rachel's. 
I  was  brought  up  on  plowing,  husking  corn  and 
going  to  meeting.  Never  smiled  till  after  I 
was  twenty;  wore  a  halo,  size  too  large,  that 
slipped  down  and  made  my  ears  stick  out.  My 
grandfather's  name  was  Elijah,  my  father's 
Elisha.  My  father  had  twelve  sons,  and  be- 
ginning with  me,  Hosea,  he  named  'em  all  in 
order  after  the  minor  prophets.  Being  brought 
up  in  a  houseful  of  prophets,  naturally  a  lot 
of  the  gift  of  prophecy  sort  of  got  rubbed  off 


on  me.': 


"Well?"  said  Katherine  impatiently,  not  see- 
ing the  pertinence  of  this  autobiography. 

Again  he  shifted  his  cigar.  "Well,  when  I 
prophesy,  it's  inspired,"  he  went  on.  "And 
you  can  take  it  as  the  word  that  came  unto 
Hosea,  that  a  woman  lawyer  settling  in  Westville 
is  going  to  raise  the  very  dickens  in  this  old 
town!" 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    LADY   LAWYER 

WHEN  Old  Hosie  had  withdrawn  with 
his  expectorative  plunder,  Katherine 
sat  down  at  the  desk  and  gazed 
thoughtfully  out  of  her  window,  taking  in  the 
tarnished  dome  of  the  Court  House  that  rose 
lustreless  above  the  elm  tops  and  the  heavy- 
boned  farmhorses  that  stood  about  the  iron 
hitch-racks  of  the  Square,  stamping  and  switch- 
ing their  tails  in  dozing  warfare  against  the  flies. 
Once  more  ,  she  began  to  go  over  the  case. 
Having  decided  to  test  all  possible  theories, 
she  for  the  moment  pigeon-holed  the  idea  of 
a  mistake,  and  began  to  seek  for  other  explana- 
tions. For  a  space  she  vacantly  watched  the 
workmen  tearing  down  the  speakers'  stand.  But 
presently  her  eyes  began  to  glow,  and  she  sprang 
up  and  excitedly  paced  the  little  office. 

Perhaps  her  father  had  unwittingly  and  in- 
nocently become  involved  in  some  large  system 
of  corruption!  Perhaps  this  case  was  the  first 
symptom  of  the  existence  of  some  deep-hidden 
municipal  disease! 

So 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  81 

It  seemed  possible  —  very  possible.  Her  two 
years  with  the  Municipal  League  had  taught 
her  how  common  were  astute  dishonest  prac- 
tices. The  idea  filled  her.  She  began  to  burn 
with  a  feverish  hope.  But  from  the  first  moment 
she  was  sufficiently  cool-headed  to  realize  that 
to  follow  up  the  idea  she  required  intimate 
knowledge  of  Westville  political  conditions. 

Here  she  felt  herself  greatly  handicapped. 
Owing  to  her  long  residence  away  from  West- 
ville she  was  practically  in  ignorance  of  public 
affairs  —  and  she  faced  the  further  difficulty  of 
having  no  one  to  whom  she  could  turn  for 
information.  Her  father  she  knew  could  be 
of  little  service;  expert  though  he  was  in  his 
specialty,  he  was  blind  to  evil  in  men.  As  for 
Blake,  she  did  not  care  to  ask  aid  from  him  so 
soon  after  his  refusal  of  assistance.  And  as  for 
others,  she  felt  that  all  who  could  give  her  in- 
formation were  either  hostile  to  her  father  or 
critical  of  herself. 

For  days  the  idea  possessed  her  mind.  She 
kept  it  to  herself,  and,  her  suspicious  eyes 
sweeping  in  all  directions,  she  studied  as  best 
she  could  to  find  some  evidence  or  clue  to 
evidence,  that  would  corroborate  her  conjecture, 
In  her  excited  hope,  she  strove,  while  she  thought 
and  worked,  to  be  indiffeient  to  what  the  town 
might  think  about  her.  But  she  was  well 
aware  that  Old  Hosie's  prophecy  was  swift 


82  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

in  coming  true  —  that  a  storm  was  raging,  a 
storm  of  her  own  sex.  It  should  be  explained, 
however,  in  justice  to  them,  that  they  forgot 
the  fact,  or  never  really  knew  it,  that  she  had 
been  forced  to  take  her  father's  case.  To 
be  sure,  there  was  no  open  insult,  no  direct 
attack,  no  face-to-face  denunciation ;  but  piazzas 
buzzed  indignantly  with  her  name,  and  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Ladies'  Aid  the  poor  were  for- 
gotten, as  at  the  Missionary  Society  were  the 
unbibled  heathen  upon  the  foreign  shore. 

Fragments  of  her  sisters'  pronouncements  were 
wafted  to  Katherine's  ears.  "No  self-respecting, 
womanly  woman  would  ever  think  of  wanting 
to  be  a  lawyer"  —  "A  forward,  brazen,  un- 
womanly young  person  "  —  "A  disgrace  to  the 
town,  a  disgrace  to  our  sex"  —  "Think  of  the 
example  she  sets  to  impressionable  young  girls; 
they'll  want  to  break  away  and  do  all  sorts  of 
unwomanly  things"  —  "Everybody  knows  her 
reason  for  being  a  lawyer  is  only  that  it  gives 
her  a  greater  chance  to  be  with  the  men." 

Katherine  heard,  her  mouth  hardened,  a 
certain  defiance  came  into  her  manner.  But 
she  went  straight  ahead  seeking  evidence  to 
support  her  suspicion. 

Every  day  made  her  feel  more  keenly  her 
need  of  intimate  knowledge  about  the  city's 
political  affairs;  then,  unexpectedly,  and  from 
an  unexpected  quarter,  an  informant  stepped 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  83 

out  upon  her  stage.  Several  times  Old  Hosie 
Rollings-worth  had  spoken  casually  when  they 
had  chanced  to  pass  in  the  building  or  on  the 
street.  One  day  his  lean,  stooped  figure  ap- 
peared in  her  office  and  helped  itself  to  a 
chair. 

"I  see  you  haven't  exactly  made  what  Charlie 
Horn,  in  his  dramatic  criticisms,  calls  an  up- 
roarious and  unprecedented  success,"  he  re- 
marked, after  a  few  preliminaries. 

"I  have  not  been  sufficiently  interested  to 
notice,"  was  her  crisp  response. 

"That's  right;  keep  your  back  up,"  said  he. 
"I've  been  agin  about  everything  that's  popu- 
lar, and  for  everything  that's  unpopular,  that 
ever  happened  in  this  town.  I've  been  an 
'agin-er'  for  fifty  years.  They'd  have  tarred 
and  feathered  me  long  ago  if  there'd  been  any 
leading  citizen  unstingy  enough  to  have  donated 
the  tar.  Then,  too,  I've  had  a  little  money, 
and  going  through  the  needle's  eye  is  easy  busi- 
ness compared  to  losing  the  respect  of  West- 
ville  so  long  as  you've  got  money  —  unless,  of 
course,"  he  added,  "you're  a  female  lawyer.  I 
tell  you,  there's  no  more  fun  than  stirring  up 
the  animals  in  this  old  town.  Any  one  unpopu- 
lar in  Westville  is  worth  being  friends  with, 
and  so  if  you're  willing ': 

He  held  out  his  thin,  bony  hand.  Katherine, 
with  no  very  marked  enthusiasm,  took  it.  Then 


84  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

her  eyes  gleamed  with  a  new  light;  and  obeying 
an  impulse  she  asked: 

"Are  you  acquainted  with  political  conditions 
in  Westville?" 

"Me  acquainted  with '  He  cackled. 

"Why,  I've  been  setting  at  my  office  window 
looking  down  on  the  political  circus  of  this 
town  ever  since  Noah  run  aground  on  Mount 
Ararat." 

She  leaned  forward  eagerly. 

"Then  you  know  how  things  stand?" 

"ToaT." 

"Tell  me,  is  there  any  rotten  politics,  any 
graft  or  corruption  going  on?"  She  flushed. 
"Of  course,  I  mean  exceptwhat's  charged  against 
my  father. " 

"When  Blind  Charlie  Peck  was  in  power, 
there  was  more  graft  and  dirty ' 

"Not  then,  but  now?"  she  interrupted. 

"Now?  Well,  of  course  you  know  that  since 
Blake  run  Blind  Charlie  out  of  business  ten 
years  ago,  Blake  has  been  the  big  gun  in  this 


town.' 


'Yes,  I  know." 

"Then  you  must  know  that  in  the  last  ten 
years  Westville  has  been  text,  sermon,  and 
doxology  for  all  the  reformers  in  the  state." 

"But  could  not  corruption  be  going  on  with- 
out Mr.  Blake  knowing  it?  Could  not  Mr. 
Peck  be  secretly  carrying  out  some  scheme?" 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  85 

"Blind  Charlie?  Blind  Charlie  ain't  dead 
yet,  not  by  a  long  sight  —  and  as  long  as  there's 
a  breath  in  his  carcass,  that  good-natured  old 
blackguard  is  likely  to  be  a  dangerous  customer. 
But  though  Charlie's  still  the  boss  of  his  party, 
he  controls  no  offices,  and  has  got  no  real  power. 
He's  as  helpless  as  Satan  was  after  he'd  been 
kicked  out  of  heaven  and  before  he'd  landed 
that  big  job  he  holds  on  the  floor  below.  Nowa- 
days, Charlie  just  sits  in  his  side  office  over  at 
the  Tippecanoe  House  playing  seven-up  from 
breakfast  till  bedtime." 

"Then  you  think  there's  no  corrupt  politics 
in  Westville?"  she  asked  in  a  sinking  voice. 

"Not  an  ounce  of  'em!"  said  Old  Hosie  with 
decision. 

This  agreed  with  the  conviction  that  had  been 
growing  upon  Katherine  during  the  last  few 
days.  While  she  had  entertained  suspicion  of 
there  being  corruption,  she  had  several  times 
considered  the  advisability  of  putting  a  de- 
tective on  the  case.  But  this  idea  she  now 
abandoned. 

After  this  talk  with  the  old  lawyer,  Katherine 
was  forced  back  again  upon  misunderstanding. 
She  went  carefully  over  the  records  of  her 
father's  department,  on  file  in  the  Court  House, 
seeking  some  item  that  would  cast  light  upon 
the  puzzle.  She  went  over  and  over  the  indict- 
ment, seeking  some  loose  end,  some  over- 


86  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

looked  inconsistency,  that  would  yield  her  at 
least  a  clue. 

For  days  she  kept  doggedly  at  this  work, 
steeling  herself  against  the  disapprobation  of 
the  town.  But  she  found  nothing.  Then,  in 
a  flash,  an  overlooked  point  recurred  to  her. 
The  trouble,  so  went  her  theory,  was  all  due  to 
a  confusion  of  the  bribe  with  the  donation  to 
the  hospital.  Where  was  that  donation? 

Here  was  a  matter  that  might  at  last  lead  to 
a  solution  of  the  difficulty.  Again  on  fire  with 
hope,  she  interviewed  her  father.  He  was 
certain  that  a  donation  had  been  promised,  he 
had  thought  the  envelope  handed  him  by  Mr. 
Marcy  contained  the  gift  —  but  of  the  donation 
itself  he  knew  no  more.  She  interviewed  Doctor 
Sherman;  he  had  heard  Mr.  Marcy  refer  to  a 
donation  but  knew  nothing  about  the  matter. 
She  tried  to  get  in  communication  with  Mr. 
Marcy,  only  to  learn  that  he  was  in  England 
studying  some  new  filtering  plants  recently 
installed  in  that  country.  Undiscouraged,  she 
one  day  stepped  off  the  train  in  St.  Louis,  the 
home  of  the  Acme  Filter,  and  appeared  in  the 
office  of  the  company. 

The  general  manager,  a  gentleman  who  ran 
to  portliness  in  his  figure,  his  jewellery  and  his 
courtesy,  seemed  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 
case.  In  exculpation  of  himself  and  his  com- 
pany, he  said  that  they  were  constantly  being 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  87 

held  up  by  every  variety  of  official  from  a  county 
commissioner  to  a  mayor,  and  they  were  simply 
forced  to  give  "presents"  in  order  to  do  business. 

"But  my  father's  defense,"  put  in  Katherine, 
"was  that  he  thought  this  'present'  was  in 
reality  a  donation  to  the  hospital.  Was  any- 
thing said  to  my  father  about  a  donation?" 

"I  believe  there  was." 

"That  corroborates  my  father!"  Katherine 
exclaimed  eagerly.  "Would  you  make  that 
statement  at  the  trial  —  or  at  least  give  me  an 
affidavit  to  that  effect?" 

"I'll  be  glad  to  give  you  an  affidavit.  But  I 
should  explain  that  the  'present'  and  the  dona- 
tion were  two  distinctly  separate  affairs." 

"Then  what  became  of  the  donation?"  Kath- 
erine cried  triumphantly. 

"It  was  sent,"  said  the  manager. 

"Sent?" 

"I  sent  it  myself,"  was  the  reply. 

Katherine  left  St.  Louis  more  puzzled  than 
before.  What  had  become  of  the  check,  if 
it  had  really  been  sent?  Home  again,  she  ran- 
sacked her  father's  desk  with  his  aid,  and  in  a 
bottom  drawer  they  found  a  heap  of  long- 
neglected  mail. 

Doctor  West  at  first  scratched  his  head  in 
perplexity.  "I  remember  now,"  he  said.  "I 
never  was  much  of  a  hand  to  keep  up  with  my 
letters,  and  for  the  few  days  before  that  celebra- 


88  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

tion  I  was  so  excited  that  I  just  threw  every- 
thing  " 

But  Katherine  had  torn  open  an  envelope  and 
was  holding  in  her  hands  a  fifty  dollar  check 
from  the  Acme  Filter  Company. 

"What  was  the  date  of  your  arrest?"  she 
asked  sharply.  "The  date  Mr.  Marcy  gave 
you  that  money?" 

"The  fifteenth  of  May." 

"This  check  is  dated  the  twelfth  of  May. 
The  envelope  shows  it  was  received  in  West- 
ville  on  the  thirteenth." 

"Well,  what  of  that?" 

"Only  this,"  said  Katherine  slowly,  and  with 
a  chill  at  her  heart,  "that  the  prosecution  can 
charge,  and  we  cannot  disprove  the  charge, 
that  the  real  donation  was  already  in  your  pos- 
session at  the  time  you  accepted  what  you  say 
you  believed  was  the  donation." 

Then,  with  a  rush,  a  great  temptation  as- 
sailed Katherine  —  to  destroy  this  piece  of 
evidence  unfavourable  to  her  father  which  she 
held  in  her  hands.  For  several  moments  the 
struggle  continued  fiercely.  But  she  had  made 
a  vow  with  herself  when  she  had  entered  law 
that  she  was  going  to  keep  free  from  the  trickery 
and  dishonourable  practices  so  common  in  her 
profession.  She  was  going  to  be  an  honest  law- 
yer, or  be  no  lawyer  at  all.  And  so,  at  length, 
she  laid  the  check  before  her  father. 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  89 

"Just  indorse  it,  and  we'll  send  it  in  to  the 
hospital,"  she  said. 

Afterward  it  occurred  to  her  that  to  have 
destroyed  the  check  would  at  the  best  have 
helped  but  little,  for  the  prosecution,  if  it  so 
desired,  could  introduce  witnesses  to  prove  that 
the  donation  had  been  sent.  Suspicion  of 
having  destroyed  or  suppressed  the  check  would 
then  inevitably  have  rested  upon  her  father. 

This  discovery  of  the  check  was  a  heavy 
blow,  but  Katherine  went  doggedly  back  to 
the  first  beginnings;  and  as  the  weeks  crept 
slowly  by  she  continued  without  remission  her 
desperate  search  for  a  clue  which,  followed  up, 
would  make  clear  to  every  one  that  the  whole 
affair  was  merely  a  mistake.  But  the  only 
development  of  the  summer  which  bore  at  all 
upon  the  case  —  and  that  bearing  seemed  to 
Katherine  indirect  —  was  that,  since  early  June, 
the  service  of  the  water-works  had  steadily 
been  deteriorating.  There  was  frequently  a 
shortage  in  the  supply,  and  the  filtering  plant, 
the  direct  cause  of  Doctor  West's  disgrace,  had 
proved  so  complete  a  failure  that  its  use  had 
been  discontinued.  The  water  was  often  murky 
and  unpleasant  to  the  taste.  Moreover,  all 
kinds  of  other  faults  began  to  develop  in  the 
plant.  The  city  complained  loudly  of  the  qual- 
ity of  the  water  and  the  failure  of  the  system. 
It  was  like  one  of  these  new-fangled  toys,  averred 


90  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

the  street  corners,  that  runs  like  a  miracle  while 
the  paint  is  on  it  and  then  with  a  whiz  and  a 
whir  goes  all  to  thunder. 

But  to  this  mere  by-product  of  the  case 
Katherine  gave  little  thought.  She  had  to  keep 
desperately  upon  the  case  itself.  At  times, 
feeling  herself  so  alone,  making  no  inch  of  head- 
way, her  spirits  sank  very  low  indeed.  What 
made  the  case  so  wearing  on  the  soul  was  that 
she  was  groping  in  the  dark.  She  was  fighting 
an  invisible  enemy,  even  though  it  was  no  more 
than  a  misunderstanding  —  an  enemy  whom, 
strive  as  she  would,  she  could  not  clutch,  with 
whom  she  could  not  grapple.  Again  and  again 
she  prayed  for  a  foe  in  the  open.  Had  there 
been  a  fight,  no  matter  how  bitter,  her  part 
would  have  been  far,  far  easier  —  for  in  fight 
there  is  action  and  excitement  and  the  lifting 
hope  of  victory. 

It  took  courage  to  work  as  she  did,  weary 
week  upon  weary  week,  and  discover  nothing. 
It  took  courage  not  to  slink  away  at  the 
town's  disapprobation.  At  times,  in  the  bitter- 
ness of  her  heart,  she  wished  she  were  out  of  it 
all,  and  could  just  rest,  and  be  friends  with 
every  one.  In  such  moods  it  would  creep  coldly 
in  upon  her  that  there  could  be  but  one  solution 
to  the  case  —  that  after  all  her  father  must  be 
guilty.  But  when  she  would  go  home  and  look 
into  his  thoughtful,  unworldy  old  face,  that 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  91 

solution  would  instantly  become  impossible; 
and  she  would  cast  out  doubt  and  despair  and 
renew  her  determination. 

The  weeks  dragged  heavily  on  —  hot  and 
dusty  after  the  first  of  July,  and  so  dry  that  out 
in  the  country  the  caked  earth  was  a  fine  net- 
work of  zigzagging  fissures,  and  the  farmers, 
gazing  despondently  upon  their  shrivelling  corn, 
watched  with  vain  hope  for  a  rescuing  cloud  to 
darken  the  clear,  hard,  brilliant  heavens.  At 
length  the  summer  burned  to  its  close;  the  open- 
ing day  of  the  September  term  of  court  was  close 
at  hand.  But  still  the  case  stood  just  as  on  the 
day  Katherine  had  stepped  so  joyously  from  the 
Limited.  The  evidence  of  Sherman  was  un- 
shaken. The  charges  of  Bruce  had  no  answer. 

One  afternoon  —  her  father's  case  was  set 
for  two  days  later  —  as  Katherine  left  her 
office,  desperate,  not  knowing  which  way  to 
turn,  her  nerves  worn  fine  and  thin  by  the  long 
strain,  she  saw  her  father's  name  on  the  front 
page  of  the  Express.  She  bought  a  copy.  In 
the  centre  of  the  first  page,  in  a  "box"  and  set 
in  heavy-faced  type,  was  an  editorial  in  Bruce's 
most  rousing  style,  trying  her  father  in  advance, 
declaring  him  flagrantly  guilty,  and  demanding 
for  him  the  law's  extremest  penalty. 

That  editorial  unloosed  her  long-collected 
wrath  —  wrath  that  had  many  a  reason.  In 
Bruce's  person  Katherine  had  from  the  first 


92  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

seen  the  summing  up,  the  leader,  of  the  bitter- 
ness against  her  father.  All  summer  he  had 
continued  his  sharp  attacks,  and  the  virulence 
of  these  had  helped  keep  the  town  wrought 
up  against  Doctor  West.  Moreover,  Katherine 
despised  Bruce  as  a  powerful,  ruthless,  dema- 
gogic hypocrite.  And  to  her  hostility  against 
him  in  her  father's  behalf  and  to  her  con- 
tempt for  his  quack  radicalism,  was  added 
the  bitter  implacability  of  the  woman  who  feels 
herself  scorned.  The  town's  attitude  toward 
her  she  resented.  But  Bruce  she  hated,  and 
him  she  prayed  with  all  her  soul  that  she  might 
humble. 

She  crushed  the  Express,  flung  it  from  her 
into  the  gutter,  and  walked  home  all  a-tremble. 
Her  aunt  met  her  in  the  hall  as  she  was  laying 
off  her  hat.  A  spot  burned  faintly  in  either 
withered  cheek  of  the  old  woman. 

"Who  does  thee  think  is  here?"  she  asked. 

"Who?"  Katherine  repeated  mechanically, 
her  wrath  too  high  for  interest  in  anything  else. 

"Mr.    Bruce.     Upstairs    with    thy    father." 

"What!"  cried  Katherine. 

Her  hat  missed  the  hook  and  fell  to  the  floor, 
and  she  went  springing  up  the  stairway.  The 
next  instant  she  flung  open  her  father's  door, 
and  walked  straight  up  to  Bruce,  before  whom 
she  paused,  bosom  heaving,  eyes  on  fire. 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  she  demanded. 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  93 

His  powerful  figure  rose,  and  his  square-hewn 
face  looked  directly  into  her  own. 

"Interviewing  your  father,"  he  returned  with 
his  aggressive  calm. 

"He  was  asking  me  to  confess,"  explained 
Doctor  West. 

"Confess?"  cried  Katherine. 

"Just  so, "  replied  Bruce.  "His  guilt  is  un- 
doubted, so  he  might  as  well  confess." 

Scorn  flamed  at  him. 

"I  see!  You  are  trying  to  get  a  confession 
out  of  him,  in  advance  of  the  trial,  as  a  big 
feature  for  your  terrible  paper!" 

She  moved  a  pace  nearer  him.  All  the  sup- 
pressed anger,  all  the  hidden  anguish,  of  the 
last  three  months  burst  up  volcanically. 

"Oh!  oh!"  she  cried  breathlessly.  "I  never 
dreamt  till  I  met  you  that  a  man  could  be  so 
low,  so  heartless,  as  to  hound  an  old  man  as 
you  have  hounded  my  father  —  and  all  for  the 
sake  of  a  yellow  newspaper  sensation.  But  he's 
a  safe  man  for  you  to  attack.  Yes,  he's  safe  — 
old,  unpopular,  helpless!" 

Bruce's  heavy  brows  lowered.  He  did  not 
give  back  a  step  before  her  ireful  figure. 

"And  because  he's  old  and  unpopular  I 
should  not  attack  him,  eh?"  he  demanded. 
"Because  he's  down,  I  should  not  hit  him? 
That's  your  woman's  reasoning,  is  it?  Well, 
let  me  tell  you,"  and  his  gray  eyes  flashed,  and 


94  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

his  voice  had  a  crunching  tone  —  "that  I  be- 
lieve when  you've  got  an  enemy  of  society  down, 
don't,  because  you  pity  him,  let  him  up  to  go 
and  do  the  same  thing  again.  While  you've 
got  him  down,  keep  on  hitting  him  till  you've 
got  him  finished  I" 

"Like  the  brute  that  you  are!"  she  cried. 
"But,  like  the  coward  you  are,  you  first  very 
carefully  choose  your  'enemy  of  society.'  You 
were  careful  to  choose  one  who  could  not  hit 
back!" 

"I  did  not  choose  your  father.  He  thrust 
himself  upon  the  town's  attention.  And  I 
consider  neither  his  weakness  nor  his  strength. 
I  consider  only  the  fact  that  your  father  has  done 
the  city  a  greater  injury  than  any  man  who  ever 
lived  in  Westville. " 

"It's  a  lie!     I  tell  you  it's  a  lie!" 

"It's  the  truth!"  he  declared  harshly,  domi- 
nantly.  "His  swindling  Westville  by  giving 
us  a  worthless  filtering-plant  in  return  for  a 
bribe  —  why,  that  is  the  smallest  evil  he  has 
done  the  town.  Before  that  time,  Westville 
was  on  the  verge  of  making  great  municipal 
advances  —  on  the  verge  of  becoming  a  model 
and  a  leader  for  the  small  cities  of  the  Middle 
West.  And  now  all  that  grand  development  is 
ruined — and  ruined  by  that  man,  your  father!" 
He  excitedly  jerked  a  paper  from  his  pocket 
and  held  it  out  to  her.  "If  you  want  to  see 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  95 

what  he  has  brought  us  to,  read  that  editorial 
in  the  Clarion!" 

She  fixed  him  with  glittering  eyes. 

"I  have  read  one  cowardly  editorial  to-day 
in  a  Westville  paper.  That  is  enough." 

"Read  that,  I  say!"  he  commanded. 

For  answer  she  took  the  Clarion  and  tossed  it 
into  the  waste-basket.  She  glared  at  him,  quiv- 
ering all  over,  in  her  hands  a  convulsive  itch 
for  physical  vengeance. 

"If  I  thought  that  in  all  your  fine  talk  about 
the  city  there  was  one  single  word  of  sincerity, 
I  might  respect  you,"  she  said  with  slow  and 
scathing  contempt.  "But  your  words  are  the 
words  of  a  mere  poseur  —  of  a  man  who  twists 
the  truth  to  fit  his  desires  —  of  a  man  who  deals 
in  the  ideas  that  seem  to  him  most  profitable 
—  of  a  man  who  cares  not  how  poor,  how  inno- 
cent, is  the  body  he  uses  as  a  stepping  stone  for 
his  clambering  greed  and  ambition.  Oh,  I 
know  you  —  I  have  watched  you  —  I  have 
read  you.  You  are  a  mere  self-seeker!  You 
are  a  demagogue!  You  are  a  liar!  And,  on 
top  of  that,  you  are  a  coward!" 

Whatever  Arnold  Bruce  was,  he  was  a  man 
with  a  temper.  Fury  was  blazing  behind  his 
heavy  spectacles. 

"Go  on !  I  care  that  for  the  words  of  a  woman 
who  has  so  little  taste,  so  little  sense,  so  little 
modesty,  as  to  leave  the  sphere ': 


96  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"You  boor!"  gasped  Katharine. 

"Perhaps  I  am.  At  least  I  am  not  afraid 
to  speak  the  truth  straight  out  even  to  a  woman. 
You  are  all  wrong.  You  are  unwomanly.  You 
are  unsexed.  Your  pretensions  as  a  lawyer  are 
utterly  preposterous,  as  the  trial  on  Thursday 
will  show  you.  And  the  condemnation  of  the 
town  is  not  half  as  severe  a  rebuke " 

"Stop!"  gasped  Katherine.  A  wild  defiance 
surged  up  and  overmastered  her,  her  nerves 
broke,  and  her  hot  words  tumbled  out  hysteri- 
cally. "You  think  you  are  a  God-anointed 
critic  of  humanity,  but  you  are  only  a  heartless, 
conceited  cad !  Just  wait  —  I'll  show  you  what 
your  judgment  of  me  is  worth!  I  am  going  to 
clear  my  father!  I  am  going  to  make  this 
Westville  that  condemns  me  kneel  at  my  feet! 
and  as  for  you  —  you  can  think  what  you  please ! 
But  don't  you  ever  dare  to  speak  to  my  father 
again  —  don't  you  ever  dare  speak  to  me  again 
—  don't  you  ever  dare  enter  this  house  again ! 
Now  go!  Go!  I  say.  Go!  Go!  Go!" 

His  face  had  grown  purple;  he  seemed  to  be 
choking.  For  a  space  he  gazed  at  her.  Then 
without  answering  he  bowed  slightly  and  was 
gone. 

She  glared  a  moment  at  the  door.  Then 
suddenly  she  collapsed  upon  the  floor,  her  head 
and  arms  on  the  old  haircloth  sofa,  and  her 
whole  body  shook  with  silent  sobs.  Doctor 


THE  LADY  LAWYER  97 

West,  first  gazing  at  her  a  little  helplessly,  sat 
down  upon  the  sofa,  and  softly  stroked  her  hair. 
For  a  time  there  were  no  words  —  only  her  con- 
vulsive breathing,  her  choking  sobs. 

Presently  he  said  gently: 

"I'm  sure  you'll  do  everything  you  said." 

"No  —  that's  the  trouble,"  she  moaned. 
"What  I  said  —  was  —  was  just  a  big  bluff.  I 
won't  do  any  —  of  those  things.  Your  trial  is 
two  days  off  —  and,  father,  I  haven't  one  bit  of 
evidence  —  I  don't  know  what  we're  going  to  do 
—  and  the  jury  will  have  to —  oh,  father,  father, 
that  man  was  right;  I'm  just  —  just  a  great  big 
failure!" 

Again  she  shook  with  sobs.  The  old  man  con- 
tinued to  sit  beside  her,  softly  stroking  her 
thick  brown  hair. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    MASK    FALLS 

BUT  presently  the  sobs  subsided,  as 
though  shut  off  by  main  force,  and 
Katherine  rose  to  her  feet.  She  wiped 
her  eyes  and  looked  at  her  father,  a  wan  smile 
on  her  reddened,  still  tremulous  face. 

"What  a  hope-inspiring  lawyer  you  have, 
father!" 

"  I  would  not  want  a  truer,"  said  he  loyally. 

"We  won't  have  one  of  these  cloud-bursts 
again,  I  promise  you.  But  when  you  have 
been  under  a  strain  for  months,  and  things 
are  stretched  tighter  and  tighter,  and  at  last 
something  makes  things  snap,  why  you  just 
can't  help  —  well,"  she  ended,  "a  man  would 
have  done  something  else,  I  suppose,  but  it 
might  have  been  just  as  bad. " 

"Worse!"  avowed  her  father. 

"Anyhow,  it's  all  over.  I'll  just  repair 
some  of  the  worst  ravages  of  the  storm,  and 
then  we'll  talk  about  our  programme  for  the 
trial." 

As  she  was  arranging  her  hair  before  her 

98 


THE  MASK  FALLS  99 

father's  mirror,  she  saw,  in  the  glass,  the  old 
man  stoop  and  take  something  from  the  waste- 
basket.  Turning  his  back  to  her,  he  cautiously 
examined  the  object. 

She  left  the  mirror  and  came  up  behind  him. 

"What  are  you  looking  at,  dear?" 

He  started,  and  glanced  up. 

"Oh  —  er  —  that  editorial  Mr.  Bruce  re- 
ferred to."  He  rubbed  his  head  dazedly.  "If 
that  should  happen,  with  me  even  indirectly  the 
cause  of  it  —  why,  Katherine,  it  really  would 
be  pretty  bad!"  He  held  out  the  Clarion. 
"Perhaps,  after  all,  you  had  better  read  it." 

She  took  the  paper.  The  Clarion  had  from 
the  first  opposed  the  city's  owning  the  water- 
works, and  the  editorial  declared  that  the  pres- 
ent situation  gave  the  paper,  and  all  those 
who  ha.d  held  a  similar  opinion,  their  long- 
awaited  triumph  and  vindication.  "This 
failure  is  only  what  invariably  happens  when- 
ever a  city  tries  municipal  ownership,"  declared 
the  editorial.  "The  situation  has  grown  so 
unbearably  acute  that  the  city's  only  hope  of 
good  water  lies  in  the  sale  of  the  system  to 
some  private  concern,  which  will  give  us  that 
superior  service  which  is  always  afforded  by 
private  capital.  Westville  is  upon  the  eve 
of  a  city  election,  and  we  most  emphatically 
urge  upon  both  parties  that  they  make  the 
chief  plank  of  their  platforms  the  immediate 


ioo  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

sale    of    our    utterly    discredited    water-works 
to  some  private  company." 

The  editorial  did  not  stir  Katherine  as  it 
had  appeared  to  stir  Bruce,  nor  even  in  the 
milder  degree  it  had  stirred  Doctor  West. 
She  was  interested  in  the  water-works  only 
in  so  far  as  it  concerned  her  father,  and  the 
Clarion's  proposal  had  no  apparent  bearing  on 
his  guilt  or  innocence. 

She  laid  the  Clarion  on  the  table,  without 
comment,  and  proceeded  to  discuss  the  coming 
trial.  The  only  course  she  had  to  suggest 
was  that  they  plead  for  a  postponement  on  the 
ground  that  they  needed  more  time  in  which 
to  prepare  their  defense.  If  that  plea  were 
denied,  then  before  them  seemed  certain  con- 
viction. On  that  plea,  then,  they  decided  to 
place  all  their  hope. 

When  this  matter  had  been  talked  out 
Doctor  West  took  the  Clarion  from  the  table 
and  again  read  the  editorial  with  troubled 
face,  while  Katherine  walked  to  and  fro  across 
the  floor,  her  mind  all  on  the  trial. 

"If  the  town  does  sell,  it  will  be  too  bad!" 
he  sighed. 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  Katherine  mechanically. 

"It  has  reached  me  that  people  are  saying 
that  the  system  isn't  worth  anything  like 
what  we  paid  for  it." 

"Is  that  so?"  she  asked  absently. 


THE  MASK  FALLS  101 

Doctor  West  drew  himself  up  and  his  faded 
cheeks  flushed  indignantly. 

"No,  it  is  not  so.  I  don't  know  what's 
wrong,  but  it's  the  very  best  system  of  its  size 
in  the  Middle  West!" 

She  paused. 

"Forgive  me  —  I  wasn't  paying  any  attention 
to  what  I  was  saying.  I'm  sure  it  is." 

She  resumed  her  pacing. 

"But  if  they  sell  out  to  some  company," 
Doctor  West  continued,  "the  company  will 
probably  get  it  for  a  third,  or  less,  of  what  it 
is  actually  worth." 

'So,  if  some  corporation  has  been  secretly 
wanting  to  buy  it,"  commented  Katherine, 
"things  could  not  have  worked  out  better  for 
the  corporation  if  they  had  been  planned." 

She  came  to  a  sudden  pause,  and  stood 
gazing  at  her  father,  her  lips  slowly  parting. 

"It  could  not  have  worked  out  better  for 
the  corporation  if  it  had  been  planned,"  she 
repeated. 

"No,"  said  Doctor  West. 

She  picked  up  the  Clarion,  quickly  read  the 
editorial,  and  laid  the  paper  aside. 

"Father!"     Her  voice  was  a  low,  startled  cry. 

"Yes?" 

She  moved  slowly  toward  him,  in  her  face  a 
breathless  look,  and  caught  his  shoulders  with 
tense  hands. 


102  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Perhaps  it  was  planned!" 

"What?" 

Her  voice  rang  out  more  loudly: 

" Perhaps  it  was  planned!" 

"But  Katherine  —  what  do  you   mean?" 

"Let  me  think.  Let  me  think."  She  began 
feverishly  to  pace  the  room.  "Oh,  why  did 
I  not  think  of  this  before!"  she  cried  to  herself. 
"I  thought  of  graft  —  political  corruption  — 
everything  else.  But  it  never  occurred  to  me 
that  there  might  be  a  plan,  a  subtle,  deep- 
laid  plan,  to  steal  the  water-works!" 

Doctor  West  watched  her  rather  dazedly  as 
she  went  up  and  down  the  floor,  her  brows 
knit,  her  lips  moving  in  self-communion.  Her 
connection  with  the  Municipal  League  in  New 
York  had  given  her  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  devious  means  by  which  public  service 
corporations  sometimes  gain  their  end.  Her 
mind  flashed  over  all  the  situation's  possi- 
bilities. 

Suddenly  she  paused  before  her  father,  face 
flushed,  triumph  in  her  eyes. 

"Father,    it   was  planned!" 

"Eh?"  said  he. 

"Father,"  she  demanded  excitedly,  "do 
you  know  w.hat  the  great  public  service  cor- 
porations are  doing  now?"  Her  words  rushed 
on,  not  waiting  for  an  answer.  "They  have 
got  hold  of  almost  all  the  valuable  public 


THE  MASK  FALLS  103 

utilities  in  the  great  cities,  and  now  they  are 
turning  to  a  fresh  field  —  the  small  cities. 
Westville  is  a  rich  chance  in  a  small  way.  It 
has  only  thirty  thousand  inhabitants  now. 
But  it  is  growing.  Some  day  it  will  have 
fifty  thousand  —  a  hundred  thousand." 

"That's  what  people  say." 

"If  a  private  company  could  get  hold  of  the 
water-works,  the  system  would  not  only  be 
richly  profitable  at  once,  but  it  would  be  worth 
a  fortune  as  the  city  grows.  Now  if  a  company, 
a  clever  company,  wanted  to  buy  in  the  water- 
works, what  would  be  their  first  move?" 

"To  make  an  offer,  I  suppose." 

" Never!  Their  first  step  would  be  to  try 
to  make  the  people  want  to  sell.  And  how 
would  they  try  to  make  the  people  want  to 
sell?" 

"Why  — why » 

.  "By  making  the  water-works  fail!"  Her 
excitement  was  mounting;  she  caught  his 
shoulders.  "Fail  so  badly  that  the  people 
would  be  disgusted,  just  as  they  now  are, 
and  willing  to  sell  at  any  price.  And  now, 
father  —  and  now,  father  — "  he  could  feel  her 
quivering  all  over  —  "listen  to  me!  We're 
coming  to  the  point!  How  would  they  make 
the  water-works  fail?" 

He  could  only  blink  at  her. 

"They'd    make    it    fail   by   removing   from 


104  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

office,  and  so  disgracing  him  that  everything 
he  had  done  would  be  discredited,  the  one 
incorruptible  man  whose  care  and  knowledge 
had  made  it  a  success!  Don't  you  see,  father? 
Don't  you  see?" 

"Bless  me,"  said  the  old  man,  "if  I  know 
what  you're  talking  about!" 

"With  you  out  of  the  way,  whom  they  knew 
they  could  not  corrupt,  they  could  buy  under 
officials  to  attend  to  the  details  of  making  the 
water  bad  and  the  plant  itself  a  failure  —  just 
exactly  what  has  been  done.  You  are  not 
the  real  victim.  You  are  just  an  obstruction  — 
something  that  they  had  to  get  out  of  the  way. 
The  real  victim  is  Westville!  It's  a  plan  to 
rob  the  city!" 

His  gray  eyes  were  catching  the  light  that 
blazed  from  hers. 

"I  begin  to  see,"  he  said.  "It  hardly  seems 
possible  people  would  do  such  things.  But  per- 
haps you're  right.  What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"Fight!" 

"Fight?"  He  looked  admiringly  at  her 
glowing  figure.  "But  if  there  is  a  strong  com- 
pany behind  all  this,  for  you  to  fight  it  alone  — 
it  will  be  an  awful  big  fight!" 

"I  don't  care  how  big  the  fight  is!"  she 
cried  exultantly.  "What  has  almost  broken 
my  heart  till  now  is  that  there  has  been  no 
one  to  fight!" 


THE  MASK  FALLS  105 

A  shadow  fell  on  the  old  man's  face. 

"But  after  all,  Katherine,  it  is  all  only  a 
guess." 

"Of  course  it  is  only  a  guess!"  she  cried. 
"But  I  have  tested  every  other  possible  solu- 
tion. This  is  the  only  one  left,  and  it  fits  every 
known  circumstance  of  the  case.  It  is  only  a 
guess — but  I'll  stake  my  life  on  its  being  the  right 
guess!"  Her  voice  rose.  "Oh,  father,  we're 
on  the  right  track  at  last!  We're  going  to 
clear  you!  Don't  you  ever  doubt  that.  We're 
going  to  clear  you!" 

There  was  no  resisting  the  ringing  confidence 
in  her  voice,  the  fire  of  her  enthusiasm. 

"Katherine!"  he  cried,  and  opened  his  arms. 

She  rushed  into  them.  "We're  going  to  clear 
you,  father!  And,  oh,  won't  it  be  fine!  Won't 
it  be  fine!" 

For  a  space  they  held  each  other  close,  then 
they  parted. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  first?  "he  asked. 

"Try  to  find  the  person,  or  corporation,  be- 
hind the  scheme." 

"And  how  will  you  do  that?" 

"First,  I  shall  talk  it  over  with  Mr.  Blake. 
You  know  he  told  me  to  come  to  him  if  I  ever 
wished  his  advice.  He  knows  the  situation 
here  —  he  has  -the  interests  of  Westville  at 
heart  —  and  I  know  he  will  help  us.  I'm  not 
going  to  lose  a  second,  so  I'm  off  to  see  him  now." 


io6  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

She  rushed  downstairs.  But  she  did  have 
to  lose  a  second,  and  many  of  them,  for  when 
she  called  up  Mr.  Blake's  office  on  the  telephone, 
the  answer  came  back  that  Mr.  Blake  was  in 
the  capital  and  would  not  return  till  the  follow- 
ing day  on  the  one  forty-five.  It  occurred 
to  Katherine  to  advise  with  old  Hosie  Hollings- 
worth,  for  during  the  long  summer  her  blind, 
childish  shrinking  had  changed  to  warm  liking 
of  the  dry  old  lawyer;  and  she  had  discovered, 
too,  that  the  heresies  it  had  been  his  delight 
to  utter  a  generation  before  —  and  on  which 
he  still  prided  himself  —  were  now  a  part  of 
the  belief  of  many  an  orthodox  divine. 

But  she  decided  against  conferring  with  Old 
Hosie.  Her  adviser  and  leader  must  be  a  man 
more  actively  in  the  current  of  modern  affairs. 
No,  Blake  was  her  great  hope,  and  precious 
and  few  as  were  the  hours  before  the  trial,  there 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  wait  for  his  return. 

She  went  up  to  her  room,  and  her  excited 
mind,  now  half  inspired,  went  feverishly  over 
the  situation  and  all  who  were  in  any  wise  con- 
cerned in  it.  She  thought  of  the  fifty  dollar 
check  from  the  Acme  Filter  Company.  With 
her  new  viewpoint  she  now  understood  the  whole 
bewildering  business  of  that  check.  The  com- 
pany, or  at  least  one  of  its  officers,  was  somehow 
in  on  the  deal,  and  there  had  been  some  careful 
scheming  behind  the  sending  of  that  fifty  dollars. 


THE  MASK  FALLS  107 

The  company  had  been  confronted  with  two 
obvious  difficulties.  First,  it  had  to  make 
certain  that  the  check  would  not  be  received 
until  after  the  two  thousand  dollars  was  in  the 
hands  of  her  father.  Second,  the  date  of  the 
check  and  the  date  of  the  Westville  postmark 
must  be  earlier  than  the  day  the  two  thousand 
dollars  was  delivered  —  else  Doctor  West  could 
produce  check  and  envelope  to  prove  that  the 
check  had  not  arrived  until  after  he  had  already 
accepted  what  he  thought  was  the  donation, 
and  thus  perhaps  ruin  the  whole  scheme. 
What  had  been  done,  Katherine  now  clearly 
perceived,  was  that  some  one,  most  probably 
an  assistant  of  her  father,  had  been  bought 
over  to  look  out  for  the  arrival  of  the  letter,  to 
hold  it  back  until  the  critical  day  had  passed, 
and  then  slip  it  into  her  father's  neglected  mail. 

Her  mind  raced  on  to  further  matters,  further 
persons,  connected  with  the  situation.  When 
she  came  to  Bruce  her  hands  clenched  the  arms 
of  her  wicker  rocking  chair.  In  a  flash  the  whole 
man  was  plain  to  her,  and  her  second  great  dis- 
covery of  the  day  was  made. 

Bruce  was  an  agent  of  the  hidden  corporation! 

The  motive  behind  his  fierce  desire  to  de- 
stroy her  father  was  at  last  apparent.  To 
destroy  Doctor  West  was  his  part  in  the  con- 
spiracy. As  for  his  rabid  advocacy  of  muni- 
cipal ownership,  and  all  his  fine  talk  about  the 


io8  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

city's  betterment,  that  was  mere  sham  —  merely 
the  virtuous  front  behind  which  he  could  work 
out  his  purpose  unsuspected.  No  one  could 
quote  the  scripture  of  civic  improvement 
more  loudly  than  the  civic  despoiler.  She 
always  had  distrusted  him.  Now  she  knew 
him.  Many  a  time  through  the  night  her  mind 
flashed  back  to  him  from  other  matters  and 
she  thrilled  with  a  vengeful  joy  at  the  thought 
of  tearing  aside  his  mask. 

It  was  a  long  and  feverish  night  to  Katherine, 
and  a  long  and  feverish  forenoon.  At  a  quarter 
to  two  she  was  in  Blake's  office,  which  was 
furnished  with  just  that  balance  between  sim- 
plicity and  richness  appropriate  to  a  growing 
great  man  with  a  constituency  half  of  the  city 
and  half  of  the  country.  She  had  sat  some  time 
at  a  window  looking  down  upon  the  Square, 
its  foliage  now  a  dusty,  shrivelled  brown,  when 
Blake  came  in.  He  had  not  been  told  that 
she  was  waiting,  and  at  sight  of  her  he  came  to 
a  sudden  pause.  But  the  next  instant  he  had 
crossed  the  room  and  was  shaking  her  hand. 

For  that  first  instant  Katherine's  eyes  and 
mind,  which  during  the  last  twenty-four  hours 
had  had  an  almost  more  than  mortal  clearness, 
had  an  impression  that  he  was  strangely  agi- 
tated. But  the  moment  over,  the  impression 
was  gone. 

He  placed  a  chair  for  her  at  the  corner  of  his 


THE  MASK  FALLS  109 

desk  and  himself  sat  down,  his  dark,  strong, 
handsome  face  fixed  on  hers. 

"Now,  how  can  I  serve  you,  Katherine?" 

There  were  rings  about  her  eyes,  but  excite- 
ment gave  her  colour. 

"You  know  that  to-morrow  is  father's  trial?" 

"Yes.  You  must  have  a  hard,  hard  fight 
before  you." 

"Perhaps  not  so  hard  as  you  may  think." 
She  tried  to  keep  her  tugging  excitement  in 
leash. 

"I  hope  not,"  said  he. 

"  I  think  it  may  prove  easy  —  if  you  will 
help  me." 

"Help   you?" 

"Yes.     I  have  come  to  ask  you  that  again." 

"Well  —  you    see  —  as    I    told    you 

"But  the  situation  has  changed  since  I  first 
came  to  you,"  she  put  in  quickly,  not  quite  able 
to  restrain  a  little  laugh.  "I  have  found 
something  out!" 

He  started.    "You  have  found — you  say " 

"I  have  found  something  out!" 

She  smiled  at  him  happily,  triumphantly. 

"And  that?"  said  he. 

She    leaned    forward. 

"I  do  not  need  to  tell  you,  for  you  know  it, 
that  the  big  corporations  have  discovered  a 
new  gold  mine  —  or  rather,  thousands  of  little 
gold  mines.  That  all  over  the  country  they 


no     COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

have  gained  control,  and  are  working  to  gain 
control,  of  the  street-car  lines,  gas  works  and 
other  public  utilities  in  the  smaller  cities." 

"Well?" 

She  spoke  excitedly,  putting  the  case  more 
definitely  than  it  really  was,  to  better  the  chance 
of  winning  his  aid. 

"Well,  I  have  just  discovered  that  there  is 
a  plan  on  foot,  directed  by  a  hidden  some  one, 
to  seize  the  water-works  of  Westville.  I  have 
discovered  that  my  father  is  not  guilty.  He  is 
the  victim  of  a  trick  to  ruin  the  water-works 
and  make  the  people  willing  to  sell.  The  first 
thing  to  do  is  to  find  the  man  behind  the 
scheme.  I  want  you  to  help  me  find  this  man." 

A  greenish  pallor  had  overspread  his  features. 

"And  you  want  me  —  to  find  this  man?" 
he  repeated. 

"Yes.  I  know  you  will  take  this  up,  simply 
because  of  your  interest  in  the  city.  But  there 
is  another  reason  —  it  would  help  you  in  your 
larger  ambition.  If  you  could  disclose  this 
scheme,  save  the  city,  become  the  hero  of  a 
great  popular  gratitude,  think  how  it  would 
help  your  senatorial  chances!" 

He  did  not  at  once  reply,  but  sat  staring 
at  her. 

"Don't  you  see?"  she  cried. 

"I- -I    see." 

"Why,   it  would   turn  your  chance  for  the 


THE  MASK  FALLS  m 

Senate  into  a  certainty!     It  would — but,  Mr. 
Blake,  what's  the  matter?" 

"Matter,"  he  repeated,  huskily.  "Why  — 
why  nothing." 

She  gazed  at  him  with  deep  concern. 
t"But  you  look  almost  sick." 

In  his  eyes  there  struggled  a  wild  look.  Her 
gaze  became  fixed  upon  his  face,  so  strangely 
altered.  In  her  present  high-wrought  state 
all  her  senses  were  excited  to  their  intensest 
keenness. 

There  was  a  moment  of  silence  —  eyes  into 
eyes.  Then  she  stood  slowly  up,  and  one  hand 
reached  slowly  out  and  clutched  his  arm. 

"Mr.  Blake!"  she  whispered,  in  an  awed 
and  terrified  tone.  She  continued  to  stare 
into  his  eyes.  "Mr.  Blake!"  she  repeated. 

She  felt  a  tensing  of  his  body,  as  of  a  man  who 
seeks  to  master  himself  with  a  mighty  effort. 
He  tried  to  smile,  though  his  greenish  pallor 
did  not  leave  him. 

"It  is  my  turn,"  he  said,  "to  ask  what  is 
the  matter  with  you,  Katherine." 

"Mr.  Blake!"  She  loosed  her  hold  upon 
his  arm,  and  shrank  away,  j 

He  rose. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  he  repeated.  "You 
seem  upset.  I  suppose  it  is  the  nervous  strain 
of  to-morrow's  trial." 

In  her  face  was  stupefied  horror. 


ii2  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"It  is  what  —  what  I  have  discovered." 

"What  you  call  your  discovery  would  be 
most  valuable,  if  true.  But  it  is  just  a  dream, 
Katherine  —  a  crazy,  crazy  dream." 

She  still  was  looking  straight  into  his  eyes. 

"Mr.  Blake,  it  is  true,"  she  said  slowly, 
almost  breathlessly.  "For  I  have  found  the 
man  behind  the  plan." 

"Indeed!     And    who?" 

"I  think  you  know  him,  Mr.  Blake." 

"I?" 

"Better  than  any  one  else." 

His  smile  had  left  him. 

"Who?" 

She  continued  to  stare  at  him  for  a  moment 
in  silence.  Then  she  slowly  raised  her  arm  and 
pointed  at  him. 

The  silence  continued  for  several  moments, 
each  gazing  at  the  other.  He  had  put  one 
hand  upon  his  desk  and  was  leaning  heavily 
upon  it.  He  looked  like  a  man  sick  unto  death. 
But  soon  a  shiver  ran  through  him;  he  swal- 
lowed, gripped  himself  in  a  strong  control, 
and  smiled  again  his  strained,  unnatural  smile. 

"Katherine,  Katherine,"  he  tried  to  say  it 
reprovingly  and  indulgently,  but  there  was  a 
quaver  in  his  voice.  "You  have  gone  quite 
out  of  your  head!" 

"It  is  true!"  she  cried.  "All  unintentionally 
I  have  followed  one  of  the  oldest  of  police 


THE  MASK  FALLS  113 

expedients.  I  have  suddenly  confronted  the 
criminal  with  his  crime,  and  I  have  surprised 
his  guilt  upon  his  face!" 

"What  you  say  is  absurd.  I  can  explain 
it  only  on  the  theory  that  you  are  quite  put  of 
your  mind." 

"Never  before  was  I  so  much  in  it!" 

In  this  moment  when  she  felt  that  the  hidden 
enemy  she  had  striven  so  long  to  find  was  at 
last  revealed  to  her,  she  felt  more  of  anguish 
than  of  triumph. 

"Oh,  how  could  you  do  such  a  thing,  Mr. 
Blake?"  she  burst  out.  "How  could  you  do 
it?" 

He  shook  his  head,  and  tried  to  smile  at 
her  perversity  —  but  the  smile  was  a  wan 
failure. 

"I  see  —  I  see!"  she  cried  in  her  pain.  "It 
is  just  the  old  story.  A  good  man  rises  to 
power  through  being  the  champion  of  the 
people  —  and,  once  in  power,  the  opportunities, 
the  temptation,  are  too  much  for  him.  But 
I  never  —  no,  never!  —  thought  that  such  a 
thing  would  happen  with  you!" 

He  strove  for  the  injured  air  of  the  mis- 
judged old  friend. 

"Again  I  must  say  that  I  can  only  explain 
your  charges  by  supposing  that  you  are  out 
of  your  head." 

"Here    in  Westville  you    believe    it  is    not 


H4     COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

woman's  business  to  think  about  politics," 
Katherine  went  on,  in  her  voice  of  pain.  "But 
I  could  not  help  thinking  about  them,  and 
watching  them.  I  have  lost  my  faith  in  the 
old  parties,  but  I  had  kept  my  faith  in  some  of 
their  leaders.  I  believe  some  of  them  honest, 
devoted,  indomitable.  And  of  them  all,  the 
one  I  admired  most,  ranked  highest,  was  you. 
And  now  —  and  now  —  oh,  Mr.  Blake !  —  to 
learn  that  you " 

"Katherine I     Katherine!"     And    he    raised 
his  hands  with  the  manner  of  exasperated,  yet 
indulgent,  helplessness. 

"Mr.  Blake,  you  know  you  are  now  only 
playing  a  part!  And  you  know  that  I  know  it!" 
She  moved  up  to  him  eagerly.  "Listen  to  me," 
she  pleaded  rapidly.  "You  have  only  started 
on  this,  you  have  not  gone  too  far  to  turn  back. 
You  have  done  no  real  wrong  as  yet,  save  to 
my  father,  and  I  know,  my  father  will  forgive 
you.  Drop  your  plan  —  let  my  father  be 
honourably  cleared  —  and  everything  will  be 
just  as  before!" 

For  a  space  he  seemed  shaken  by  her  words. 
She  watched  him,  breathless,  awaiting  the  out- 
come of  the  battle  she  felt  was  waging  within 
him. 

"Drop  the  plan  —  do!  —  do!  —  I  beg  you!" 
she  cried. 

His   dark  face    twitched;  a    quivering    ran 


THE  MASK  FALLS  115 

through  his  body.     Then  by  a  mighty  effort 

he  partially  regained  his  mastery. 

"There  is  no  plan  for  me  to  drop,"  he  said 

huskily. 

"  You  still  cling  to  the  part  you  are  playing?" 
"I  am  playing  no  part;  you  are  all  wrong 

about  me,"  he  continued.     "Your  charges  are 

so  absurd  that  it  would  be  foolish  to  deny  them. 

They  are  merely  the  ravings  of  an  hysterical 


woman.'3 


"And  this  is  your  answer?" 

"That  is  my  answer." 

She  gazed  at  him  for  a  long  moment.  Then 
she  sighed. 

"I'm  so  sorry!"  she  said;  and  she  turned 
away  and  moved  toward  the  door. 

She  gave  him  a  parting  look,  as  he  stood 
pale,  quivering,  yet  controlled,  behind  his 
desk.  In  this  last  moment  she  remembered 
the  gallant  fight  this  man  had  made  against 
Blind  Charlie  Peck;  she  remembered  that 
fragrant,  far-distant  night  of  June  when  he  had 
asked  her  to  marry  him;  and  she  felt  as  though 
she  were  gazing  for  the  last  time  upon  a  dear 
dead  face. 

"I'm  sorry  —  oh,  so  sorry!"  she  said  trem- 
ulously. "Good-by."  And  turning,  she  walked 
with  bowed  head  out  of  his  office. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE    EDITOR    OF    THE    "EXPRESS" 


KVTHERINE    stumbled    down   into   the 
dusty,    quivering   heat  of   the   Square. 
She   was  still    awed    and    dumfounded 
by  her  discovery;  she  could  not  as  yet  realize  its 
full  significance  and  whither  it  would  lead;  but 
her  mind  was  a  ferment  of  thoughts  that  were 
unfinished   and   questions   that  did  not   await 
reply. 

How  had  a  man  once  so  splendid  come  to 
sell  his  soul  for  money  or  ambition?  What 
would  Westville  think  and  do,  Westville  who 
worshipped  him,  if  it  but  knew  the  truth? 
How  was  she  to  give  battle  to  an  antagonist, 
so  able  in  himself,  so  powerfully  supported  by 
the  public?  What  a  strange  caprice  of  fate 
it  was  that  had  given  her  as  the  man  she  must 
fight,  defeat,  or  be  defeated  by,  her  former  idol, 
her  former  lover! 

Shaken  with  emotion,  her  mind  shot  through 
with  these  fragmentary  thoughts,  she  turned 
into  a  side  street.  But  she  had  walked  beneath 
its  withered  maples  no  more  than  a  block  or 

uti 


THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  EXPRESS  117 

two,  when  her  largest  immediate  problem,  her 
father's  trial  on  the  morrow,  thrust  itself  into 
her  consciousness,  and  the  pressing  need  of 
further  action  drove  all  this  spasmodic  spec- 
ulation from  her  mind.  She  began  to  think 
upon  what  she  should  next  do.  Almost  in- 
stantly her  mind  darted  to  the  man  whom  she 
had  definitely  connected  with  the  plot  against 
her  father,  Arnold  Bruce,  and  she  turned 
back  toward  the  Square,  afire  with  a  new  idea. 

She  had  made  great  advance  through  sud- 
denly, though  unintentionally,  confronting  Blake 
with  knowledge  of  his  guilt.  Might  she  not 
make  some  further  advance,  gain  some  new  clue, 
by  confronting  Bruce  in  similar  manner? 

Ten  minutes  after  she  had  left  the  office  of 
Harrison  Blake,  Katherine  entered  the  Express 
Building.  From  the  first  floor  sounded  a  deep 
and  continuous  thunder;  that  afternoon's  issue 
was  coming  from  the  press.  She  lifted  her 
skirts  and  gingerly  mounted  the  stairway, 
over  which  the  Express's  "devil"  was  occasionally 
seen  to  make  incantations  with  the  stub  of  an 
undisturbing  broom. 

At  the  head  of  the  stairway  a  door  stood 
open.  This  she  entered,  and  found  herself  in 
the  general  editorial  room,  ankle-deep  with  dirt 
and  paper.  The  air  of  the  place  told  that  the 
day's  work  was  done.  In  one  corner  a  telegraph 
sounder  was  chattering  its  tardy  world-gossip 


n8      COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

to  unheeding  ears.  In  the  centre  at  a  long 
table,  typewriters  before  them,  three  shirt- 
sleeved  young  men  sprawled  at  ease  reading 
the  Express,  which  the  "devil"  had  just  brought 
them  from  the  nether  regions,  moist  with  the 
black  spittle  of  the  beast  that  there  roared 
and  rumbled. 

At  sight  of  her  tall,  fresh  figure,  a  red  spot 
in  her  either  cheek,  defiance  in  her  brown  eyes, 
Billy  Harper,  quicker  than  the  rest,  sprang  up 
and  crossed  the  room. 

"Miss  West,  I  believe,"  he  said.  "Can  I 
do  anything  for  you?" 

"I  wish  to  speak  with  Mr.  Bruce,"  was  her 
cold  reply. 

"This  way,"  and  Billy  led  her  across  the 
wilderness  of  proofs,  discarded  copy  and  old 
newspapers,  to  a  door  beside  the  stairway 
that  led  down  into  the  pressroom.  "Just  go 
right  in,"  he  said. 

She  entered.  Bruce,  his  shirt-sleeves  rolled 
up  and  his  bared  fore-arms  grimy,  sat  glancing 
through  the  Express,  his  feet  crossed  on  his 
littered  desk,  a  black  pipe  hanging  from  one 
corner  of  his  mouth.  He  did  not  look  round 
but  turned  another  page. 

"Well,  what's  the  matter?"  he  grunted 
between  his  teeth. 

"I  should  like  a  few  words  with  you,"  said 
Katherine. 


THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  EXPRESS  119 

"Eh!"  His  head  twisted  about.  "Miss 
West!" 

His  feet  suddenly  dropped  to  the  floor,  and 
he  stood  up  and  laid  the  pipe  upon  his  desk. 
For  the  moment  he  was  uncertain  how  to 
receive  her,  but  the  bright,  hard  look  in  her 
eyes  fixed  his  attitude. 

"Certainly,"  he  said  in  a  brusque,  business- 
like tone.  He  placed  the  atlas-bottomed  chair 
near  his  own.  "Be  seated." 

She  sat  down,  and  he  took  his  own  chair. 

"I  am  at  your  service,"  he  said. 

Her  cheeks  slowly  gathered  a  higher  colour, 
her  eyes  gleamed  with  a  p re-triumphant  fire, 
and  she  looked  straight  into  his  square,  rather 
massive  face.  .  Over  Blake  she  had  felt  an  in- 
finity of  regret  and  pain.  For  this  man  she 
felt  only  boundless  hatred,  and  she  thrilled  with 
a  vengeful,  exultant  joy  that  she  was  about 
to  unmask  him  —  that  later  she  might  crush 
him  utterly. 

"I  am  at  your  service,"  he  repeated. 

She  slowly  wet  her  lips  and  gathered  herself 
to  strike,  alert  to  watch  the  effects  of  her  blow. 

"I  have  called,  Mr.  Bruce,"  she  said  with 
slow  distinctness,  "to  let  you  know  that  I 
know  that  a  conspiracy  is  under  way  to  steal 
the  water-works!  And  to  let  you  know  that 
I  know  that  you  are  near  its  centre!" 

He  started. 


120  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"What?"  he  cried. 

Her  devouring  gaze  did  not  lose  a  change  of 
feature,  not  so  much  as  the  shifting  in  the 
pupil  of  his  eye. 

"Oh,  I  know  your  plot!"  she  went  on  rapidly. 
"It's  every  detail!  The  first  step  was  to  ruin 
the  water-works,  so  the  city  would  sell  and  sell 
cheap.  The  first  step  toward  ruining  the 
system  was  to  get  my  father  out  of  the  way. 
And  so  this  charge  against  my  father  was 
trumped  up  to  ruin  him.  The  leader  of  the 
whole  plot  is  Mr.  Blake;  his  right  hand  man 
yourself.  Oh,  I  know  every  detail  of  your 
infamous  scheme!" 

He  stared  at  her.     His  lips  had  slowly  parted. 

"What  —  you  say  that  Mr.  Blake " 

"Oh,  you  are  trying  to  play  your  part  of 
innocence  well,  but  you  cannot  deceive  me!" 
she  cried  with  fierce  contempt.  "Yes,  Mr. 
Blake  is  the  head  of  it.  I  just  came  from  his 
office.  There's  not  a  doubt  in  the  world  of 
his  guilt.  He  has  admitted  it.  Oh " 

"Admitted  it?" 

"Yes,  admitted  it!  Oh,  it  was  a  fine  and 
easy  way  to  make  a  fortune  —  to  dupe  the  city 
into  selling  at  a  fraction  of  its  value  a  business 
that  run  privately  will  pay  an  immense  and 
ever-growing  profit." 

He  had  stood  up  and  was  scratching  his 
bristling  hair. 


THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  EXPRESS  121 

"My  God !    My  God ! "  he  whispered. 

She  rose. 

"And  you!"  she  cried,  glaring  at  him,  her 
voice  mounting  to  a  climax  of  scorn,  "You! 
Don't  walk  the  room"  —  he  had  begun  to  do 
so  —  "but  look  me  in  the  face.  To  think  how 
you  have  attacked  my  father,  maligned  him, 
covered  him  with  dishonour!  And  for  what? 
To  help  you  carry  through  a  dirty  trick  to  rob 
the  city!  Oh,  I  wish  I  had  the  words  to  tell 
you " 

But  he  had  begun  again  to  pace  the  little 
room,  scratching  his  head,  his  eyes  gleaming  be- 
hind the  heavy  glasses. 

"Listen  to  me!"   she   commanded. 

"Oh,  give  me  all  the  hell  you  want  to!" 
he  cried  out.  "Only  don't  ask  me  to  listen 
to  you!" 

He  paused  abruptly  before  her,  and,  eyes 
half-closed,  stared  piercingly  into  her  face. 
As  she  returned  his  stare,  it  began  to  dawn 
upon  her  that  he  did  not  seem  much  taken 
aback.  At  least  his  guilt  bore  no  near  likeness 
to  that  of  Mr.  Blake. 

Suddenly  he  made  a  lunge  for  the  door, 
jerked  it  open,  and  his  voice  descended  the  stair- 
way, out-thundering  the  press. 

"Jake!    Oh,  Jake!" 

A  lesser  roar  ascended: 

"Yes!" 


122  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Stop  the  press!  Rip  open  the  forms! 
Get  the  men  at  the  linotypes!  And  be  alive 
down  there,  every  damned  soul  of  you!  And 
you,  Billy  Harper,  I'll  want  you  here  in  two 
minutes!" 

He  slammed  the  door,  and  turned  on  Kath- 
erine.  She  had  looked  upon  excitement  before, 
but  never  such  excitement  as  was  flaming  in 
his  face. 

"Now  give  me  all  the  details!"  he  cried. 

She  it  was  that  was  taken  aback. 

"I  —  I   don't  understand,"   she   said. 

"No  time  to  explain  now.  Looks  like  I've 
been  all  wrong  about  your  father  —  perhaps 
a  little  wrong  about  you  —  and  perhaps  you've 
been  a  little  wrong  about  me.  Let  it  go  at 
that.  Now  for  the  details.  Quick!" 

"But  —  but  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"Going  to  get  out  an  extra!  It's  the  hottest 
story  that  ever  came  down  the  pike!  It'll 
make  the  Express,  and"  —  he  seized  her  hand 
in  his  grimy  ones,  his  eyes  blazed,  and  an  ex- 
ultant laugh  leaped  from  his  deep  chest  — 
"and  we'll  simply  rip  this  old  town  wide  open!" 

Katherine    stared    at   him    in    bewilderment. 

"Oh,  won't  this  wake  the  old  town  up!"  he 
murmured  to  himself. 

He  dropped  into  his  chair,  jerked  some  loose 
copy  paper  toward  him,  and  seized  a  pencil. 

"Now    quick!     The    details!" 


THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  EXPRESS  123 

"You  mean  —  you  are  going  to  print  this?" 
she  stammered. 

"Didn't  I  say  so!"  he  answered  sharply. 

"Then  you  really  had  nothing  to  do  with 
Mr.  Blake's  - 

"Oh,  hell!  I  beg  pardon.  But  this  is  no 
time  for  explanations.  Come,  come"  -  he 
rapped  his  desk  with  his  knuckles -- "don't 
you  know  what  getting  out  an  extra  is  ?  Every 
second  is  worth  half  your  lifetime.  Out  with 
the  story!" 

Katherine  sank  rather  weakly  into  her  chair, 
beginning  to  see  new  things  in  this  face  she  had 
so  lately  loathed. 

"The  fact  of  the  matter  is,"  she  confessed, 
"I  guess  I  stated  my  information  a  little  more 
definitely  than  it  really  is." 

"You  mean  you  haven't  the  facts?" 

"I'm  afraid  not.     Not  yet." 

"Nothing  definite  I  could  hinge  a  story  on?" 

She  shook  her  head.  "I  didn't  come  prepared 
for  —  for  things  to  take  this  turn.  It  would 
spoil  everything  to  have  this  made  public  before 
I  had  my  case  worked  up." 

"Then  there's  no  extra!" 

He  flung  down  his  pencil  and  sprang  up. 
"Nothing  doing,  Billy,"  he  called  to  Harper, 
who  that  instant  opened  the  door;  "go  on  back 
with  you."  He  began  to  walk  up  and  down 
the  little  office,  scowling,  hands  clenched  in  his 


124  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

trousers'  pockets.  After  a  moment  he  stopped 
short,  and  looked  at  Katherine  half  savagely. 

"I  suppose  you  don't  know  what  it  means 
to  a  newspaper  man  to  have  a  big  story  laid 
in  his  hands  and  then  suddenly  jerked  out?" 

"I  suppose  it  is  something  of  a  disappoint- 


ment.' 


"Disappointment!"  The  word  came  out 
half  groan,  half  sneer.  "Rot!  If  you  were 
waiting  in  church  and  the  bridegroom  didn't 

show  up,  if  you  were oh,  I  can't  make  you 

understand  the  feeling!" 

He  dropped  back  into  his  chair  and  scratched 
viciously  at  the  copy  paper  with  his  heavy 
black  pencil.  She  watched  him  in  a  sort  of 
fascination,  till  he  abruptly  looked  up.  Sus- 
picion glinted  behind  the  heavy  glasses. 

"Are  you  sure,  Miss  West,"  he  asked  slowly 
"that  this  whole  affair  isn't  just  a  little  game?" 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"That  your  whole  story  is  nothing  but  a 
hoax?  Nothing  but  a  trick  to  get  out  of  a 
tight  hole  by  calling  another  man  a  thief?" 

Her  eyes  flashed. 

"You  mean  that  I  am  telling  a  lie?" 

"Oh,  you  lawyers  doubtless  have  a  better- 
tasting  word  for  it.  You  would  call  it,  say,  a 
'professional  expedient." 

She  was  still  not  sufficiently  recovered  from 
her  astonishment  to  be  angry.  Besides,  she 


THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  EXPRESS  125 

felt  herself  by  an  unexpected  turn  put  in  the 
wrong  regarding  Bruce. 

"What  I  have  said  to  you  is  the  absolute 
truth,"  she  declared.  "Here  is  the  situation  — 
believe  me  or  not,  just  as  you  please.  I  ask 
you,  for  the  moment,  to  accept  the  proposition 
that  my  father  is  the  victim  of  a  plot  to  steal 
the  water-works,  and  then  see  how  everything 
fits  in  with  that  theory.  And  bear  in  mind, 
as  an  item  worth  considering,  my  father's 
long  and  honourable  career  —  never  a  dis- 
honouring word  against  him  till  this  charge 
came."  And  she  went  on  and  outlined,  more 
fully  than  on  yesterday  before  her  father,  the 
reasoning  that  had  led  her  to  her  conclusion. 
"Now,  does  not  that  sound  possible?"  she  de- 
manded. 

He  had  watched  her  with  keen,  half-closed 
eyes. 

"H'm.     You  reason  well,"  he  conceded. 

"That's  a  lawyer's  business,"  she  retorted. 
"So  much  for  theory.  Now  for  facts."  And 
she  continued  and  gave  him  her  experience  of 
half  an  hour  before  with  Blake,  the  editor's 
boring  gaze  fixed  on  her  all  the  while.  "Now 
I  ask  you  this  question:  Is  it  likely  that  even 
a  poor  water  system  could  fail  so  quickly  and 
so  completely  as  ours  has  done,  unless  some 
powerful  person  was  secretly  working  to  make 
it  fail?  Do  you  not  see  it  never  could?  We 


126  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

all  would,  have  seen  it,  but  we've  all  been  too 
busy,  too  blind,  and  thought  too  well  of  our 
town,  to  suspect  such  a  thing." 

His  eyes  were  still  boring  into  her. 

"But  how  about  Doctor  Sherman?"  he  asked. 

"I  believe  that  Doctor  Sherman  is  an  innocent 
tool  of  the  conspiracy,  just  as  my  father  is 
its  innocent  victim,"  she  answered  promptly. 

Bruce  sat  with  the  same  fixed  look,  and  made 
no  reply. 

"I  have  stated  my  theory,  and  I  have  stated 
my  facts,"  said  Katherine.  "I  have  no  court 
evidence,  but  I  am  going  to  have  it.  As  I 
remarked  before,  you  can  believe  what  I  have 
said,  or  not  believe  it.  It's  all  the  same  to 
me."  She  stood  up.  "I  wish  you  good 
afternoon." 

He  quickly  rose. 

"Hold  on!"   he  said. 

She  paused  at  the  door.  He  strode  to  and 
fro  across  the  little  office,  scowling  with  thought. 
Then  he  paused  at  the  window  and  looked  out. 

"Well?"  she  demanded. 

He  wheeled  about. 

"It  sounds  plausible.'* 

"Thank  you,"  she  said  crisply.  "I  could 
hardly  expect  a  man  who  has  been  the  cham- 
pion of  error,  to  admit  that  he  has  been  wrong 
and  accept  the  truth.  Good  afternoon." 

Again  she  reached  for  the  door-knob. 


THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  EXPRESS  127 

"Wait!"  he  cried.  There  was  a  ring  of 
resentment  in  his  voice,  but  his  square  face 
that  had  been  grudgingly  non-committal  was 
now  aglow  with  excitement.  "Of  course  you're 
right!"  he  exclaimed.  "There's  a  damned  in- 
fernal conspiracy !  Now  what  can  I  do  to  help  ? " 

"Help?"  she  asked  blankly. 

"Help  work  up  the  evidence?  Help  reveal 
the  conspiracy?" 

She  had  not  yet  quite  got  her  bearings  con- 
cerning this  new  Bruce. 

"Help?  Why  should  you  help?  Oh,  I  see," 
she  said  coldly;  "it  would  make  a  nice  sen- 
sational story  for  your  paper." 

He  flushed  at  her  cutting  words,  and  his 
square  jaw  set. 

"I  suppose  I  might  follow  your  example  of 
a  minute  ago  and  say  that  I  don't  care  what 
you  think.  But  I  don't  mind  telling  you  a  few 
things,  and  giving  you  a  chance  to  understand 
me  if  you  want  to.  I  was  on  a  Chicago  paper, 
and  had  a  big  place  that  was  growing  bigger. 
I  could  have  sold  the  Express  when  my  uncle 
left  it  to  me,  and  stayed  there;  but  I  saw  a 
chance,  with  a  paper  of  my  own,  to  try  out 
some  of  my  own  ideas,  so  I  came  to  Westville. 
My  idea  of  a  newspaper  is  that  its  function 
is  to  serve  the  people  —  make  them  think  — 
bring  them  new  ideas  —  to  be  ever  watching 
their  interests.  Of  course,  I  want  to  make 


128  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

money  —  I've  got  to,  or  go  to  smash;  but  I'd 
rather  run  a  candy  store  than  run  a  sleepy, 
apologetic,  afraid-of-a-mouse,  mere  money- 
making  sheet  like  the  Clarion,  that  would  never 
breathe  a  word  against  the  devil's  fair  name  so 
long  as  he  carried  a  half-inch  ad.  You  called 
me  a  yellow  journalist  yesterday.  Well,  if 
to  tell  the  truth  in  the  hardest  way  I  know  how, 
to  tell  it  so  that  it  will  hit  people  square  between 
the  eyes  and  make  'em  sit  up  and  look  around 
'em  —  if  that  is  yellow  then  I'm  certainly  a 
yellow  journalist,  and  I  thank  God  Almighty 
for  inventing  the  breed!" 

As  Katherine  listened  to  his  snappy,  vibrant 
words,  as  she  looked  at  his  powerful,  dominant 
figure,  and  into  his  determined  face  with  its 
flashing  eyes,  she  felt  a  reluctant  warmth  creep 
through  her  being. 

"Perhaps  —  I  may  have  been  mistaken 
about  you,"  she  said. 

"Perhaps  you  may!"  he  returned  grimly. 
"Perhaps  as  much  as  I  was  about  your  father. 
And,  speaking  of  your  father,  I  don't  mind 
adding  something  more.  Ever  since  I  took 
charge  of  the  Express,  I've  been  advocating 
municipal  ownership  of  every  public  utility. 
The  water-works,  which  were  apparently  so 
satisfactory,  were  a  good  start;  I  used  them 
constantly  as  a  text  for  working  up  munici- 
pal ownership  sentiment.  The  franchises  of 


THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  EXPRESS  129 

the  Westville  Traction  Company  expire  next 
year,  and  I  had  been  making  a  campaign  against 
renewing  the  franchises  and  in  favour  of  the 
city  taking  over  the  system  and  running  it. 
Opinion  ran  high  in  favour  of  the  scheme.  But 
Doctor  West's  seeming  dishonesty  completely 
killed  the  municipal  ownership  idea.  That 
was  my  pet,  and  if  I  was  bitter  toward  your 
father  —  well,  I  couldn't  help  it.  And  now," 
he  added  rather  brusquely,  "I've  explained 
myself  to  you.  To  repeat  your  words,  you  can 
believe  me  or  not,  just  as  you  like." 

There  was  no  resisting  the  impression  of  the 
man's  sincerity. 

"I  suppose,"  said  Katherine,  "that  I  should 
apologize  for  —  for  the  things  I've  called  you. 
My  only  excuse  is  that  your  mistake  about  my 
father  helped  cause  my  mistake  about  you." 

"And  I,"  returned  he,  "am  not  only  willing 
to  take  back,  publicly,  in  my  paper,  what  I 
have  said  against  your  father,  but  am  willing 
to  print  your  statement  about 

"You  must  not  print  a  word  till  I  get  my 
evidence,"  she  put  in  quickly.  "Printing  it 
prematurely  might  ruin  my  case." 

"Very  well.  And  as  for  what  I  have  said 
about  you,  I  take  back  everything  —  except 

"    He  paused;  she   saw   disapprobation    in 

his  eyes.     "Except  the  plain  truth  I  told  you 
that  being  a  lawyer  is  no  work  for  a  woman." 


i3o  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"You  are  very  dogmatic!"  said  she  hotly. 

"I  am  very  right,"  he  returned.  "Excuse 
my  saying  it,  but  you  appear  to  have  too-  many 
good  qualities  as  a  woman  to  spoil  it  all  by  going 
out  of  your  sphere  and  trying " 

"Why  —  why "      She     stood     gasping. 

"Do  you  know  what  your  uncle  told  me  about 
you?" 

"Old  Hosie?"  He  shrugged  his  shoulders. 
"Hosie's  an  old  fool!" 

"He  said  that  the  trouble  with  you  was 
that  you  had  not  been  thrashed  enough  as  a 
boy.  And  he  was  right,  too!" 

She  turned  quickly  to  the  door,  but  he  stepped 
before  her. 

"Don't  get  mad  because  of  a  little  truth. 
Remember,  I  want  to  help  you." 

"I  think,"  said  she,  "that  we're  better 
suited  to  fight  each  other  than  to  help  each 
other.  I'm  not  so  sure  I  want  your  help." 

"I'm  not  so  sure  you  can  avoid  taking  it," 
he  retorted.  "This  isn't  your  father's  case 
alone.  It's  the  city's  case,  too,  and  I've  got 
a  right  to  mix  in.  Now  do  you  want  me?" 

She  looked  at  him  a  moment. 

"I'll  think  it  over.  For  the  present,  good 
afternoon." 

He  hesitated,  then  held  out  his  hand.  She 
hesitated,  then  took  it.  After  which,  he  opened 
the  door  for  her  and  bowed  her  out. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    PRICE    OF   A   MAN 

WHEN,  half  an  hour  before,  Katherine 
walked  with  bowed  head  out  of  Harri- 
son Blake's  office,  Blake  gazed  fixedly 
after  her  for  a  moment,  and  his  face,  now  that 
he  was  private,  deepened  its  sickly,  ashen  hue. 
Then  he  strode  feverishly  up  and  down  the  room, 
lips  twitching  nervously,  hands  clinching  and 
unclinching.  Then  he  unlocked  a  cabinet 
against  the  wall,  poured  out  a  drink  from  a 
squat,  black  bottle,  gulped  it  down,  and  re- 
turned the  bottle,  forgetting  to  close  the  cabinet. 
After  which  he  dropped  into  his  chair,  gripped 
his  face  in  his  two  hands,  and  sat  at  his  desk 
breathing  deeply,  but  otherwise  without  motion. 

Presently  his  door  opened. 

"Mr.  Brown  is  here  to  see  you, "  announced  a 
voice. 

He  slowly  raised  his  head,  and  stared  an 
instant  at  his  stenographer  in  dumfounded 
silence. 

"Mr.  Brown!"  he  repeated. 

''Yes,"  said  the  young  woman. 


132  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

He  continued  to  stare  at  her  in  sickly  stupe- 
faction. 

"Shall  I  tell  him  you'll  see  him  later?" 

"Show  him  in,"  said  Blake.  "But,  no  — 
wait  till  I  ring." 

He  passed  his  hand  across  his  moist  and  pallid 
face,  paced  his  room  again  several  times,  then 
touched  a  button  and  stood  stiffly  erect  beside 
his  desk.  The  next  moment  the  door  closed 
behind  a  short,  rather  chubby  man  with  an 
egg-shell  dome  and  a  circlet  of  grayish  hair. 
He  had  eyes  that  twinkled  with  good  fellowship 
and  a  cheery,  fatherly  manner. 

"Well,  well,  Mr.  Blake;  mighty  glad  to  see 
you!"  he  exclaimed  as  he  crossed  the  room. 

Blake,  still   pale,  but   now  with  tense   com-; 
posure,  took  the  hand  of  his  visitor. 

"This  is  a  surprise,  Mr.  Brown,"  said  he. 
"How  do  you  happen  to  be  in  Westville?" 

Mr.  Brown  disposed  himself  comfortably  in 
the  chair  that  Katherine  had  so  lately  occu- 
pied. 

"To-morrow's  the  trial  of  that  Doctor  West, 
isn't  it?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  I  thought  I'd  better  be  on  the  ground 
to  see  how  it  came  out." 

Blake  did  not  respond  at  once;  but,  lips  very 
tight  together,  sat  gazing  at  the  ruddy  face  of 
his  visitor. 


THE  PRICE  OF  A  MAN  133 

"Everything's  going  all  right,  isn't  it?" 
asked  Mr.  Brown  in  his  cheery  voice. 

"About  the  trial,  you  mean?"  Blake  asked 
with  an  effort. 

"Of  course.  The  letter  I  had  from  you  yes- 
terday assured  me  conviction  was  certain. 
Things  still  stand  the  same  way,  I  suppose?" 

Blake's  whole  body  was  taut.  His  dark  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  Mr.  Brown. 

"They  do  not, "  he  said  quietly. 

"Not  stand  the  same  way?"  cried  Mr.  Brown, 
half  rising  from  his  chair.  "Why  not?" 

"I  am  afraid,"  replied  Blake  with  his  strained 
quiet,  "that  the  prosecution  will  not  make 
out  a  case. " 

"Not  make  out  a  case?" 

"To-morrow  Doctor  West  is  going  to  be 
cleared." 

"Cleared?   Cleared?"   Mr.   Brown   stared. 
"Now  what  the  devil  —  see  here,  Blake,  how's 
that  going  to  happen?" 

Blake's    tense    figure    had    leaned    forward. 

"It's  going  to  happen,  Mr.  Brown,"  he  burst 
out,  with  a  flashing  of  his  dark  eyes,  "because 
I'm  tired  of  doing  your  dirty  work,  and  the 
dirty  work  of  the  National  Electric  &  Water 
Company!" 

:'You  mean  you're  going  to  see  he's  cleared?" 

"  I  mean  I'm  going  to  see  he's  cleared ! " 

"What  —  you?"  ejaculated  Mr.  Brown,  still 


134  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

staring.  "Why,  only  in  your  letter  yesterday 
you  were  all  for  the  plan!  What's  come  over 
you?" 

"If  you'd  gone  through  what  I've  just  gone 
through "  Blake  abruptly  checked  his  pas- 
sionate reference  to  his  scene  with  Katherine. 
"  I  say  enough  when  I  say  that  I'm  going  to  see 
that  Doctor  West  is  cleared.  There  you  have 
it." 

No  further  word  was  spoken  for  a  moment. 
The  two  men,  leaning  toward  each  other, 
gazed  straight  into  one  another's  eyes.  Blake's 
powerful,  handsome  face  was  blazing  and  de- 
fiant. The  fatherly  kindness  had  disappeared 
from  the  other,  and  it  was  keen  and  hard. 

"So,"  said  Mr.  Brown,  cuttingly,  and  with 
an  infinity  of  contempt,  "it  appears  that  Mr. 
Harrison  Blake  is  the  owner  of  a  white  liver." 

"You  know  that's  a  lie!"  Blake  fiercely  re- 
torted. "You  know  I've  got  as  much  courage 
as  you  and  your  infernal  company  put  together!" 

"Oh,  you  have,  have  you?  From  the  way 
you're  turning  tail >: 

"To  turn  tail  upon  a  dirty  job  is  no  cowar- 
dice!" 

"But  there  have  been  plenty  of  dirty  jobs 
you  haven't  run  from.  You've  put  through 
many  a  one  in  the  last  two  or  three  years  on 
the  quiet." 

"But  never  one  like  this.' 


THE  PRICE  OF  A  MAN  135 

"You  knew  exactly  what  the  job  was  when 
you  made  the  bargain  with  us. " 

"Yes.  And  my  stomach  rose  against  it 
even  then. " 

"Then  why  the  devil  did  you  tie  up  with 
us?" 

"Because  your  big  promises  dazzled  me! 
Because  you  took  me  up  on  a  high  mountain 
and  showed  me  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  1" 

"Well,  you  then  thought  the  kingdoms  were 
pretty  good  looking  property." 

"Good  enough  to  make  me  forget  the  sort  of 
thing  I  was  doing.  Good  enough  to  blind 
me  as  to  how  things  might  come  out.  But  I 
see  now!  And  I'm  through  with  it  all!" 

The  chubby  little  man's  eyes  were  on  fire. 
But  he  was  too  experienced  in  his  trade  to  allow 
much  liberty  to  anger. 

"And  that's  final  —  that's  where  you  stand?" 
he  asked  with  comparative  calm. 

"That's  where  I  stand!"  cried  Blake.  "I 
may  have  got  started  crooked,  but  I'm  through 
with  this  kind  of  business  now!  I'm  going  back 
to  clean  ways !  And  you,  Mr.  Brown,  you  might 
as  well  say  good-by!" 

But  Mr.  Brown  was  an  old  campaigner.  He 
never  abandoned  a  battle  merely  because  it 
apparently  seemed  lost.  He  now  leaned  back 
in  his  chair,  slowly  crossed  his  short  legs,  and 
thoughtfully  regarded  Blake's  excited  features. 


136  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

His  own  countenance  had  changed  its  aspect;  it 
had  shed  its  recent  hardness,  and  had  not  re- 
sumed its  original  cheeriness.  It  was  eminently 
a  reasonable  face. 

"Come,  let's  talk  this  whole  matter  over  in 
a  calm  manner,"  he  began  in  a  rather  soothing 
tone.  "Neither  of  us  wants  to  be  too  hasty. 
There  are  a  few  points  I'd  like  to  call  your 
attention  to,  if  you'll  let  me. " 

"Go  ahead  with  your  points,"  said  Blake. 
"But  they  won't  change  my  decision." 

"First,  let's  talk  about  the  company,"  Mr. 
Brown  went  on  in  his  mild,  persuasive  manner. 
"Frankly,  you've  put  the  company  in  a  hole. 
Believing  that  you  would  keep  your  end  of 
the  bargain,  the  company  has  invested  a  lot 
of  money  and  started  a  lot  of  projects.  We 
bought  up  practically  all  the  stock  of  the 
Westville  street  car  lines,  when  that  municipal 
ownership  talk  drove  the  price  so  low,  because 
we  expected  to  get  a  new  franchise  through 
your  smashing  this  municipal  ownership  fallacy. 
We  have  counted  on  big  things  from  the  water- 
works when  you  got  hold  of  it  for  us.  And  we 
have  plans  on  foot  in  several  other  cities  of  the 
state,  and  we've  been  counting  on  the  failure 
of  municipal  ownership  in  Westville  to  have 
a  big  influence  on  those  cities  and  to  help  us  in 
getting  what  we  want.  In  one  way  and  another 
this  deal  here  means  an  a\vful  lot  to  the  com- 


THE  PRICE  OF  A  MAN  137 

pany.  Your  failing  us  at  the  last  moment  means 
to  the  company ': 

"I  understand  all  that,"  interrupted  Blake. 

"Here's  a  point  for  you  to  consider  then: 
Since  the  company  has  banked  so  much  upon 
your  promise,  since  it  will  lose  so  heavily  if  you 
repudiate  your  word,  are  you  not  bound  in 
honour  to  stand  by  your  agreement?" 

Blake  opened  his  lips,  but  Mr.  Brown  raised 
a  hand. 

"Don't  answer  now.  I  just  leave  that  for 
you  to  think  upon.  So  much  for  the  company. 
Now  for  yourself.  We  promised  you  if  you  car- 
ried this  deal  through  —  and  you  know  how 
able  we  are  to  keep  our  promise!  —  we  promised 
you  Grayson's  seat  in  the  Senate.  And  after 
that,  with  your  ability  and  our  support,  who 
knows  where  you'd  stop?"  Mr.  Brown's  voice 
became  yet  more  soft  and  persuasive.  "Isn't 
that  a  lot  to  throw  overboard  because  of  a 
scruple?" 

"I  can  win  all  that,  or  part  of  it,  by  being 
loyal  to  the  people,"  Blake  replied  doggedly, 
but  in  a  rather  unsteady  tone. 

"Come,  come,  Mr.  Blake,"  said  Brown  reprov- 
ingly, "you  know  you're  not  talking  sense. 
You  know  that  the  only  quick  and  sure  way  of 
getting  the  big  offices  is  by  the  help  of  the  cor- 
porations. So  you  realize  what  you're  losing." 

Blake's   face   had   become   drawn   and   pale. 


138  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

He  closed  his  eyes,  as  though  to  shut  out  the 
visions  of  the  kingdoms  Mr.  Brown  had  con- 
jured up. 

"I'm  ready  to  lose  it!"  he  cried. 

"All  right,  then,"  Mr.  Brown  went  mildly 
on.  "  So  much  for  what  we  lose,  and  what  you 
lose.  Now  for  the  next  point,  the  action  you 
intend  to  take  regarding  Doctor  West.  Do  you 
mind  telling  me  just  how  you  propose  to  undo 
what  you  have  done  so  far?" 

"I  haven't  thought  it  out  yet.  But  I  can 
doit." 

"Of  course,"  pursued  Mr.  Brown  blandly, 
"you  propose  to  do  it  so  that  you  will  appear 
in  no  way  to  be  involved?" 

Blake  was  thinking  of  Katherine's  accusation. 
"Of  course." 

"Just  suppose  you  think  about  that  point 
for  a  minute  or  two. " 

There  was  a  brief  silence.  When  Mr.  Brown 
next  spoke  he  spoke  very  slowly  and  accompa- 
nied each  word  with  a  gentle  tap  of  his  fore- 
finger on  the  desk. 

"Can  you  think  of  a  single  way  to  clear  Doc- 
tor West  without  incriminating  yourself?" 

Blake  gave  a  start. 

"What's  that?" 

"  Can  you  get  Doctor  West  out  of  his  trouble 
without  showing  who  got  him  into  his  trouble? 
Just  think  that  over. " 


THE  PRICE  OF  A  MAN  139 

During  the  moment  of  silence  Blake  grew  yet 
more  pale. 

"I'll  kill  the  case  somehow!"  he  breathed. 

"But  the  case  looks  very  strong  against 
Doctor  West.  Everybody  believes  him  guilty. 
Do  you  think  you  can  suddenly,  within  twenty-^ 
four  hours,  reverse  the  whole  situation,  and  not 
run  some  risk  of  having  suspicion  shift  around 
to  you?" 

Blake's  eyes  fell  to  his  desk,  and  he  sat 
staring  whitely  at  it. 

"And  there's  still  another  matter,"  pursued 
the  gentle  voice  of  Mr.  Brown,  now  grown 
apologetic.  "I  wouldn't  think  of  mentioning 
it,  but  I  want  you  to  have  every  consideration 
before  you.  I  believe  I  never  told  you  that  the 
National  Electric  &  Water  Company  own  the 
majority  stock  of  the  Acme  Filter  Company." 

"No,  I  didn't  know  that." 

"It  was  because  of  that  mutual  relationship 
that  I  was  able  to  help  out  your  little  plan  by 
getting  Marcy  to  do  what  he  did.  Now  if  some 
of  our  directors  should  feel  sore  at  the  way 
you've  thrown  us  down,  they  might  take'  it 
into  their  minds  to  make  things  unpleasant  for 
you. " 

"Unpleasant?     How?" 

Mr.  Brown's  fatherly  smile  had  now  come 
back.  It  was  full  of  concern  for  Blake. 

"Well,  I'd  hate,  for  instance,  to  see  them  use 


i4o  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

their  pressure  to  drive  Mr.  Marcy  to  make  a 


statement. ' 


"Mr.  Marcy?    A  statement?" 

"Because,"  continued  Mr.  Brown  in  his  tone 
of  fatherly  concern,  "after  Mr.  Marcy  had 
stated  what  he  knows  about  this  case,  I'm 
afraid  there  wouldn't  be  much  chance  for  you 
to  win  any  high  places  by  being  loyal  to  the 
people. " 

For  a  moment  after  this  velvet  threat  Blake 
held  upon  Mr.  Brown  an  open-lipped,  ashen 
face.  Then,  without  a  word,  he  leaned  his 
elbows  upon  his  desk  and  buried  his  face  in  his 
hands.  For  a  long  space  there  was  silence  in 
the  room.  Mr.  Brown's  eyes,  kind  no  longer, 
but  keenest  of  the  keen,  watched  the  form  be- 
fore him,  timing  the  right  second  to  strike  again. 

At  length  he  re-crossed  his  legs. 

"Of  course  it's  up  to  you  to  decide,  and  what 
you  say  goes,"  he  went  on  in  his  amiable  voice. 
"But  speaking  impartially,  and  as  a  friend,  it 
strikes  me  that  you've  gone  too  far  in  this 
matter  to  draw  back.  It  strikes  me  that  the 
best  and  only  thing  is  to  go  straight  ahead." 

Blake's  head  remained  bowed  in  his  hands, 
and  he  did  not  speak. 

"And,  of  course,"  pursued  Mr.  Brown,  "if 
you  should  decide  in  favour  of  the  original 
agreement,  our  promise  still  stands  good — Sen- 
ate and  all." 


THE  PRICE  OF  A  MAN  141 

Mr.  Brown  said  no  more,  but  sat  watching 
his  man.  Again  there  was  a  long  silence.  Then 
Blake  raised  his  face  —  and  a  changed  face  it 
was  indeed  from  that  which  had  fallen  into  his 
hands.  It  bore  the  marks  of  a  mighty  struggle, 
but  it  was  hard  and  resolute  —  the  face  of  a 
man  who  has  cast  all  hesitancy  behind. 

"The  agreement  still  stands,"  he  said. 

"Then  you're  ready  to  go  ahead?" 

"To  the  very  end,"  said  Blake. 

Mr.  Brown  nodded.  "I  was  sure  you'd  decide 
that  way, "  said  he. 

"I  want  to  thank  you  for  what  you've  said 
to  bring  me  around,"  Blake  continued  in  his 
new  incisive  tone.  "But  it  is  only  fair  to  tell 
you  that  this  was  only  a  spell  —  not  the  first 
one,  in  fact  —  and  that  I  would  have  come  to 
my  senses  anyhow. " 

"Of  course,  of  course. "  It  was  not  the  policy 
of  Mr.  Brown,  once  the  victory  was  won,  to 
discuss  to  whom  the  victory  belonged. 

Blake's  eyes  were  keen  and  penetrating. 

"And  you  say  that  the  things  I  said  a  little 
while  back  will  not  affect  your  attitude  toward 
me  in  the  future?" 

"Those  things  ?  Why,  they've  already  passed 
out  of  my  other  ear!  Oh,  it's  no  new  experience," 
he  went  on  with  his  comforting  air  of  good- 
fellowship,  "  for  me  to  run  into  one  of  our  politi- 
cal friends  when  he's  sick  with  a  bad  case  of 


142  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

conscience.  They  all  have  it  now  and  then, 
and  they  all  pull  out  of  it.  No,  don't  you  worry 
about  the  future.  You're  O.  K.  with  us." 

"Thank  you." 

"And  now,  since  everything  is  so  pleasantly 
cleared  up,"  continued  Mr.  Brown,  "let's  go 
back  to  my  first  question.  I  suppose  every- 
thing looks  all  right  for  the  trial  to-morrow?" 

Blake  hesitated  a  moment,  then  told  of 
Katherine's  discovery.  "But  it's  no  more  than 
a  surmise,"  he  ended. 

"Has  she  guessed  any  other  of  the  parties 
implicated?"  Mr.  Brown  asked  anxiously. 

"I'm  certain  she  has  not." 

"Is  she  likely  to  raise  a  row  to-morrow?" 

"I  hardly  see  how  she  can." 

"All  the  same,  we'd  better  do  something  to 
quiet  her,"  returned  Mr.  Brown  meaningly. 

Blake  flashed  a  quick  look  at  the  other. 

"See    here  —  I'll    not    have    her    touched!" 

Mr.  Brown's  scanty  eyebrows  lifted. 

"Hello!  You  seem  very  tender  about 
her!" 

Blake  looked  at  him  sternly  a  moment. 
Then  he  said  stiffly:  "I  once  asked  Miss 
West  to  marry  me. " 

"Eh  —  you  don't  say!"  exclaimed  the  other, 
amazed.  "That  is  certainly  a  queer  situation 
for  you!"  He  rubbed  his  naked  dome.  "And 
you  still  feel 5: 


THE  PRICE  OF  A  MAN  143 

"What  I  feel  is  my  own  affair!"  Blake  cut 
in  sharply. 

"Of  course,  of  course!"  agreed  Mr.  Brown 
quickly.  "I  beg  your  pardon!" 

Blake  ignored  the  apology. 

"It  might  be  well  for  you  not  to  see  me 
openly  again  like  this.  With  Miss  West  watch- 
ing me >: 

"She  might  see  us  together,  and  suspect 
things.  I  understand.  Needn't  worry  about 
that.  You  may  not  see  me  again  for  a  year. 
I'm  here  —  there  —  everywhere.  But  before 
I  go,  how  do  things  look  for  the  election?" 

"We'll  carry  the  city  easily." 

"Who'll  you  put  up  for  mayor?" 

"Probably  Kennedy,  the  prosecuting  attorney." 

"Is  he  safe?" 

"He'll  do  what  he's  told." 

"That's  good.     Is  he  strong  with  the  people  ? " 

"Fairly  so.  But  the  party  will  carry  him 
through. " 

"H'm."  Mr.  Brown  was  thoughtful  for  a 
space.  "This  is  your  end  of  the  game,  of  course, 
and  I  make  it  a  point  not  to  interfere  with 
another  man's  work.  The  only  time  I've  butted 
in  here  was  when  I  helped  you  about  getting 
Marcy.  But  still,  I  hope  you  don't  mind  my 
making  a  suggestion." 

"Not  at  all." 

"We've   got   to   have   the   next   mayor   and 


144  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

council,  you  know.  Simply  got  to  have  them. 
We  don't  want  to  run  any  risk,  however  small. 
If  you  think  there's  one  chance  in  a  thousand  of 
Kennedy  losing  out,  suppose  you  have  your- 
self nominated." 

"Me?"  exclaimed  Blake. 

"It  strikes  you  as  a  come-down,  of  course. 
But  you  can  do  it  gracefully  —  in  the  interest 
of  the  city,  and  all  that,  you  know.  You  can 
turn  it  into  a  popular  hit.  Then  you  can  resign 
as  soon  as  our  business  is  put  through. " 

"There  may  be  something  in  it,"  commented 
Blake. 

"It's  only  a  suggestion.  Just  think  it  over, 
and  use  your  own  judgment."  He  stood  up. 
"Well,  I  guess  that's  all  we  need  to  say  to  one 
another.  The  whole  situation  here  is  entirely 
in  your  hands.  Do  as  you  please,  and  we  ask 
no  questions  about  how  you  do  it.  We're  not 
interested  in  methods,  only  in  results." 

He  clapped  Blake  heartily  upon  the  shoulder. 
"And  it  looks  as  though  we  all  were  going  to  get 
results!  Especially  you!  Why,  you,  with  this 
trial  successfully  over  —  with  the  election  won 
—  with  the  goods  delivered " 

He  suddenly  broke  off,  for  the  tail  of  his  eye 
had  sighted  Blake's  open  cabinet. 

"Will  you  allow  me  a  liberty?" 

"Certainly,"  replied  Blake,  in  the  dark  as  to 
his  visitor's  purpose. 


THE  PRICE  OF  A  MAN  145 

Mr.  Brown  crossed  to  the  cabinet,  and  re- 
turned with  the  squat,  black  bottle  and  two 
small  glasses.  He  tilted  an  inch  into  each 
tumbler,  gave  one  to  Blake,  and  raised  the 
other  on  high.  His  face  was  illumined  with 
his  fatherly  smile. 

"To  our  new  Senator!"  he  said. 


CHAPTER  X 

SUNSET   AT   THE    SYCAMORES 

WHEN  the  door  had  closed  behind  the 
pleasant  figure  of  Mr.  Brown,  Blake 
pressed  the  button  upon  his  desk. 
His  stenographer  appeared. 

"  I  have  some  important  matters  to  consider, " 
he  said.  "Do  not  allow  me  to  be  disturbed  until 
Doctor  and  Mrs.  Sherman  come  with  the  car." 

His  privacy  thus  secured,  Blake  sat  at  his 
desk,  staring  fixedly  before  him.  His  brow  was 
compressed  into  wrinkles,  his  dark  face,  still 
showing  a  yellowish  pallor,  was  hard  and  set. 
He  reviewed  the  entire  situation,  and  as  his 
consuming  ambition  contemplated  the  glories 
of  success,  and  the  success  after  that,  and  the 
succession  of  successes  that  led  up  and  ever  up, 
his  every  nerve  was  afire  with  an  excruciating, 
impatient  pleasure. 

For  a  space  while  Katherine  had  confronted 
him,  and  for  a  space  after  she  had  gone,  he  had 
shrunk  from  this  business  he  was  carrying 
through.  But  he  had  spoken  truthfully  to  Mr. 
Brown  when  he  had  said  that  his  revulsion  was 

146 


SUNSET  AT  THE  SYCAMORES  147 

but  a  temporary  feeling,  and  that  of  his  own 
accord  he  would  have  come  back  to  his  original 
decision.  He  had  had  such  revulsions  before, 
and  each  time  he  had  swung  as  surely  back  to 
his  purpose  as  does  the  disturbed  needle  to  the 
magnetic  pole. 

Westville  considered  Harrison  Blake  a  happy 
blend  of  the  best  of  his  father  and  mother; 
whereas,  in  point  of  fact,  his  father  and  his 
mother  lived  in  him  with  their  personalities 
almost  intact.  There  was  his  mother,  with  her 
idealism  and  her  high  sense  of  honour;  and  his 
father,  with  his  boundless  ambition  and  his 
lack  of  principles.  In  the  earlier  years  of 
Blake's  manhood  his  mother's  qualities  had 
dominated.  He  had  sincerely  tried  to  do  great 
work  for  Westville,  and  had  done  it;  and  the 
reputation  he  had  then  made,  and  the  gratitude 
he  had  then  won,  were  the  seed  from  which  had 
grown  the  great  esteem  with  which  Westville 
now  regarded  him. 

But  a  few  years  back  he  had  found  that  rise, 
through  virtue,  was  slow  and  beset  with  bar- 
riers. His  ambition  had  become  impatient. 
Now  that  he  was  a  figure  of  local  power  and 
importance,  temptation  began  to  assail  him 
with  offers  of  rapid  elevation  if  only  he  would 
be  complaisant.  In  this  situation,  the  father 
in  him  rose  into  the  ascendency;  he  had  com- 
promised and  yielded,  though  always  managing 


148  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

to  keep  his  dubious  transactions  secret.  And 
now  at  length  ambition  ruled  him  —  though 
as  yet  not  undisturbed,  for  conscience  sometimes 
rose  in  unexpected  revolt  and  gave  him  many 
a  bitter  battle. 

When  his  stenographer  told  Blake  that  Doc- 
tor and  Mrs.  Sherman  were  waiting  at  the  curb, 
he  descended  with  something  more  like  his 
usual  cast  of  countenance.  Elsie  and  her  hus- 
band were  in  the  tonneau,  and  as  Blake  crossed 
the  sidewalk  to  the  car  she  stretched  out  a 
nervous  hand  and  gave  him  a  worn,  excited 
smile. 

"  It  is  so  good  of  you  to  take  us  out  to  The 
Sycamores  for  over  night ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  It's 
such  a  pleasure  —  and  such  a  relief!" 

She  did  not  need  to  explain  that  it  was  a 
relief  because  the  motion,  the  company,  the 
change  of  scene,  would  help  crowd  from  her 
mind  the  dread  of  to-morrow  when  her  husband 
would  have  to  take  the  stand  against  Doctor 
West;  she  did  not  need  to  explain  this,  because 
Blake's  eyes  read  it  all  in  her  pale,  feverish  face. 

Blake  shook  hands  with  Doctor  Sherman, 
dismissed  his  chauffeur,  and  took  the  wheel. 
They  spun  out  of  the  city  and  down  into  the 
River  Road  —  the  favourite  drive  with  West- 
ville  folk  —  which  followed  the  stream  in  broad 
sweeping  curves  and  ran  through  arcades  of 
thick-bodied,  bowing  willows  and  sycamores 


SUNSET  AT  THE  SYCAMORES  149 

lofty  and  severe,  their  foliage  now  a  drought- 
crisped  brown.  After  half  an  hour  the  car 
turned  through  a  stone  gateway  into  a  grove 
of  beech  and  elm  and  sycamore.  At  a  comfort- 
able distance  apart  were]  perhaps  a  dozen  houses 
whose  outer  walls  were  slabs  of  trees  with  the 
bark  still  on.  This  was  The  Sycamores,  a 
little  summer  resort  established  by  a  small 
group  of  the  select  families  of  Westville. 

Blake  stopped  the  car  before  one  of  these 
houses  —  "cabins"  their  owners  called  them, 
though  their  primitiveness  was  all  in  that  outer 
shell  of  bark.  A  rather  tall,  straight,  white- 
haired  old  lady,  with  a  sweet  nobility  and 
strength  of  face,  was  on  the  little  porch  to  greet 
them.  She  welcomed  Elsie  and  her  husband 
warmly  and  graciously.  Then  with  no  relaxa- 
tion of  her  natural  dignity  into  emotional 
effusion,  she  embraced  her  son  and  kissed  him 
—  for  to  her,  as  to  Westville,  he  was  the  same 
man  as  five  years  before,  and  to  him  she  had 
given  not  only  the  love  a  mother  gives  her  only 
son,  but  the  love  she  had  formerly  borne  her 
husband  who,  during  his  last  years,  had  been  to 
her  a  bitter  grief.  Blake  returned  the  kiss  with 
no  less  feeling.  His  love  of  his  mother  was  the 
talk  of  Westville ;  it  was  the  one  noble  sentiment 
which  he  still  allowed  to  sway  him  with  all  its 
original  sincerity  and  might. 

They  had  tea  out  upon  the  porch,  with  its 


150  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

view  of  the  river  twinkling  down  the  easy  hill 
between  the  trees.  Mrs.  Blake,  seeing  how 
agitated  Elsie  was,  and  under  what  a  strain  was 
Doctor  Sherman,  and  guessing  the  cause,  deftly 
guided  the  conversation  away  from  to-morrow's 
trial.  She  led  the  talk  around  to  the  lecture 
room  which  was  being  added  to  Doctor  Sher- 
man's church  —  a  topic  of  high  interest  to 
them  all,  for  she  was  a  member  of  the  church, 
Blake  was  chairman  of  the  building  committee, 
and  Doctor  Sherman  was  treasurer  of  the  com- 
mittee and  active  director  of  the  work.  This 
manoeuvre  had  but  moderate  success.  Blake 
carried  his  part  of  the  conversation  well  enough, 
and  Elsie  talked  with  a  feverish  interest  which 
was  too  great  a  drain  upon  her  meagre  strength. 
But  the  stress  of  Doctor  Sherman,  which  he 
strove  to  conceal,  seemed  to  grow  greater  rather 
than  decrease. 

Presently  Blake  excused  himself  and  Doctor 
Sherman,  and  the  two  men  strolled  down  a 
winding,  root-obstructed  path  toward  the  river. 
As  they  left  the  cabin  behind  them,  Blake's 
manner  became  cold  and  hard,  as  in  his  office, 
and  Doctor  Sherman's  agitation,  which  he  had 
with  such  an  effort  kept  in  hand,  began  to  escape 
his  control.  Once  he  stumbled  over  the  twisted 
root  which  a  beech  thrust  across  their  path  and 
would  have  fallen  had  not  Blake  put  out  a  swift 
hand  and  caught  him.  Yet  at  this  neither 


SUNSET  AT  THE  SYCAMORES  151 

uttered  a  word,  and  in  silence  they  continued 
walking  on  till  they  reached  a  retired  spot  upon 
the  river's  bank. 

Here  Doctor  Sherman  sank  to  a  seat  upon  a 
mossy,  rotting  log.  Blake,  erect,  but  leaning 
lightly  against  the  scaling,  mottled  body  of 
a  giant  sycamore,  at  first  gave  no  heed  to  his 
companion.  He  gazed  straight  ahead  down  the 
river,  emaciated  by  the  drought  till  the  bowlders 
of  its  bottom  protruded  through  the  surface 
like  so  many  bones  —  with  the  ranks  of  austere 
sycamores  keeping  their  stately  watch  on  either 
bank  —  with  the  sun,  blood  red  in  the  Sep- 
tember haze,  suspended  above  the  river's  west- 
most  reach. 

Thus  the  pair  remained  for  several  moments. 
Then  Blake  looked  slowly  about  at  the  minister. 

"I  brought  you  down  here  because  there 
is  something  I  want  to  tell  you,"  he  said 
calmly. 

"I  supposed  so;  go  ahead,"  responded  Doc- 
tor Sherman  in  a  choked  voice,  his  eyes  upon 
the  ground. 

"You  seem  somewhat  disturbed,"  remarked 
Blake  in  the  same  cold,  even  tone. 

"Disturbed!"  cried  Doctor  Sherman.  "Dis- 
turbed!" 

His  voice  told  how  preposterously  inadequate 
was  the  word.  He  did  not  lift  his  eyes,  but  sat 
silent  a  moment,  his  white  hands  crushing  one 


152  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

another,  his  face  bent  upon  the  rotted  wood 
beneath  his  feet. 

"It's  that  business  to-morrow!"  he  groaned; 
and  at  that  he  suddenly  sprang  up  and  con- 
fronted Blake.  His  fine  face  was  wildly  haggard 
and  was  working  in  convulsive  agony.  "My 
God,"  he  burst  out,  "when  I  look  back  at  my- 
self as  I  was  four  years  ago,  and  then  look  at 
myself  as  I  am  to-day  —  oh,  I'm  sick,  sick!" 
A  hand  gripped  the  cloth  over  his  breast. 
"Why,  when  I  came  to  Westville  I  was  on  fire 
to  serve  God  with  all  my  heart  and  never  a 
compromise!  On  fire  to  preach  the  new  gospel 
that  the  way  to  make  people  better  is  to  make 
this  an  easier  world  for  people  to  be  better  in!" 

That  passion-shaken  figure  was  not  a  pleasant 
thing  to  look  upon.  Blake  turned  his  eyes  back 
to  the  glistening  river  and  the  sun,  and  steeled 
himself. 

"Yes,  I  remember  you  preached  some  great 
sermons  in  those  days,"  he  commented  in  his 
cold  voice.  "And  what  happened  to  you?" 

"You  know  what  happened  to  me!"  cried 
the  young  minister  with  his  wild  passion.  "You 
know  well  enough,  even  if  you  were  not  in  that 
group  of  prominent  members  who  gave  me  to 
understand  that  I'd  either  have  to  change  my 
sermons  or  they'd  have  to  change  their  minister!" 

"At  least  they  gave  you  a  choice,"  returned 
Blake. 


SUNSET  AT  THE  SYCAMORES  153 

"And  I  made  the  wrong  choice!  I  was  at 
the  beginning  of  my  career  —  the  church  here 
seemed  a  great  chance  for  so  young  a  man  — 
and  I  did  not  want  to  fail  at  the  very  beginning. 
And  so  —  and  so  —  I  compromised!" 

"Do  you  suppose  you  are  the  first  man  that 
has  ever  made  a  compromise?" 

"That  compromise  was  the  direct  cause  of 
to-morrow!"  the  young  clergyman  went  on  in 
his  passionate  remorse.  "That  compromise  was 
the  beginning  of  my  fall.  After  the  prominent 
members  took  me  up,  favoured  me,  it  became 
easy  to  blink  my  eyes  at  their  business  methods- 
And  then  it  became  easy  for  me  to  convince 
myself  that  it  would  be  all  right  for  me  to  gamble 
in  stocks." 

"That  was  your  great  mistake,"  said  the  dry 
voice  of  the  motionless  figure  against  the  tree. 
"A  minister  has  no  business  to  fool  with  the 
stock  market." 

"But  what  was  I  to  do?"  Doctor  Sherman 
cried  desperately.  "No  money  behind  me  — 
the  salary  of  a  dry  goods  clerk  —  my  wife  up 
there,  whom  I  love  better  than  my  own  life, 
needing  delicacies,  attention,  a  long  stay  in 
Colorado  —  what  other  chance,  I  ask  you,  did  I 
have  of  getting  the  money?" 

"Well,  at  any  rate,  you  should  have  kept  your 
fingers  off  that  church  building  fund. " 

"God,  don't  I  realize  that!      But  with  the 


154  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

market  falling,  and  all  the  little  I  had  about  to 
be  swept  away,  what  else  was  a  half  frantic 
man  to  do  but  to  try  to  save  himself  with  any 
money  he  could  put  his  hands  upon?" 

Blake  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Well,  if  luck  was  against  you  when  that 
church  money  was  also  swept  away,  luck  was 
certainly  with  you  when  it  happened  that  I  was 
the  one  to  discover  what  you  had  done. " 

"So  I  thought,  when  you  offered  to  replace 
the  money  and  cover  the  whole  thing  up.  But, 
God,  I  never  dreamed  you'd  exact  such  a  price 
in  return!" 

He  gripped  Blake's  arm  and  shook  it.  His 
voice  was  a  half-muffled  shriek. 

"  If  you  wanted  the  water-works,  if  you  wanted 
to  do  this  to  Doctor  West,  why  did  you  pick 
on  me  to  bring  the  accusation?  There  are  men 
who  would  never  have  minded  it  —  men  with- 
out conscience  and  without  character!" 

Blake  steadfastly  kept  his  steely  gaze  upon 
the  river. 

"I  believe  I  have  answered  that  a  number  of 
times,"  he  replied  in  his  hard,  even  tone.  "I 
picked  you  because  I  needed  a  man  of  character 
to  give  the  charges  weight.  A  minister,  the 
president  of  our  reform  body  —  no  one  else  would 
serve  so  well.  And  I  picked  you  because  — 
pardon  me,  if  in  my  directness  I  seem  bru- 
tal —  I  picked  you  because  you  were  all  ready 


SUNSET  AT  THE  SYCAMORES  155 

to  my  hand;  you  were  in  a  situation  where  you 
dared  not  refuse  me.  Also  I  picked  you,  in- 
stead of  a  man  with  no  character  to  lose,  be- 
cause I  knew  that  you,  having  a  character  to 
lose  and  not  wanting  to  lose  it,  would  be  less 
likely  than  any  one  else  ever  to  break  down  and 
confess.  I  hope  my  answer  is  sufficiently  ex- 
plicit." 

Doctor  Sherman  stared  at  the  erect,  immobile 
figure. 

"And  you  still  intend,"  he  asked  in  a  dry, 
husky  voice,  "you  still  intend  to  force  me  to 
go  upon  the  stand  to-morrow  and  commit " 

"I  would  not  use  so  unpleasant  a  word  if  I 
were  you. " 

"But  you  are  going  to  force  me  to  do  it?" 

"I  am  not  going  to  force  you.  You  referred 
a  few  minutes  ago  to  the  time  when  you  had  a 
choice.  Well,  here  is  another  time  when  you 
have  a  choice. " 

"Choice?"  cried  Doctor  Sherman  eagerly. 

:'Yes.  You  can  testify,  or  not  testify,  as 
you  please.  Only  in  reaching  your  decision," 
added  the  dry,  emotionless  voice,  "I  suggest  that 
you  do  not  forget  that  I  have  in  my  possession 
your  signed  confession  of  that  embezzlement. " 

"And  you  call  that  a  choice?"  cried  Doctor 
Sherman.  "When,  if  I  refuse,  you'll  expose  me, 
ruin  me  forever,  kill  Elsie's  love  for  me!  Do 
you  call  that  a  choice  ? " 


156  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"A  choice,  certainly.  Perhaps  you  are  in- 
clined not  to  testify.  If  so,  very  well.  But 
before  you  make  your  decision  I  desire  to  inform 
you  of  one  fact.  You  will  remember  that  I 
said  in  the  beginning  that  I  brought  you  down 
here  to  tell  you  something. " 

"Yes.     What  is  it?" 

"  Merely  this.  That  Miss  West  has  discovered 
that  I  am  behind  this  affair. " 

"What!"  Doctor  Sherman  fell  back  a  step, 
and  his  face  filled  with  sudden  terror.  "Then 
—  she  knows  everything?" 

"She  knows  little,  but  she  suspects  much. 
For  instance,  since  she  knows  that  this  is  a  plot, 
she  is  likely  to  suspect  that  every  person  in 
any  way  connected  with  the  affair  is  guilty  of 
conspiracy. " 

"  Even  —  even  me  ? " 

"Even  you." 

"Then  — you  think?" 

Blake  turned  his  face  sharply  about  upon 
Doctor  Sherman  —  the  first  time  since  the 
beginning  of  their  colloquy.  It  was  his  father's 
face  —  his  father  in  one  of  his  most  relentless, 
overriding  moods  —  the  face  of  a  man  whom 
nothing  can  stop. 

"I  think,"  said  he  slowly,  driving  each  word 
home, "  that  the  only  chance  for  people  who  want 
to  come  out  of  this  affair  with  a  clean  name  is  to 
stick  the  thing  right  through  as  we  planned." 


SUNSET  AT  THE  SYCAMORES  157 

Doctor  Sherman  did  not  speak. 

"I  tell  you  about  Miss  West  for  two  reasons. 
First,  in  order  to  let  you  know  the  danger  you're 
in.  Second,  in  order,  in  case  you  decided  to 
testify,  that  you  may  be  forewarned  and  be 
prepared  to  outface  her.  I  believe  you  under- 
stand everything  now?" 

"Yes,"  was  the  almost  breathless  response. 

"Then  may  I  be  allowed  to  ask  what  you  are 
going  to  do  —  testify,  or  not  testify  ? " 

The  minister's  hands  opened  and  closed.  He 
swallowed  with  difficulty. 

"Testify,  or  not  testify?"  Blake  insisted. 

"Testify,"  whispered  Doctor  Sherman. 

"Just   as   you   choose,"    said   Blake   coldly. 

The  minister  sank  back  to  his  seat  upon  the 
mossy  log,  and  bowed  his  head  into  his  hands. 
"Oh,  my  God!"  he  breathed. 

There  followed  a  silence,  during  which  Blake 
gazed  upon  the  huddled  figure.  Then  he  turned 
his  set  face  down  the  glittering,  dwindled  stream, 
and,  one  shoulder  lightly  against  the  sycamore, 
he  watched  the  sun  there  at  the  river's  end  sink 
softly  down  into  its  golden  slumber. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    TRIAL 

KATHERINE'S  first  thought,  on  leaving 
Bruce's  office,  was  to  lay  her  discovery 
before  Doctor  Sherman.  She  was  cer- 
tain that  with  her  new-found  knowledge,  and 
with  her  entirely  new  point  of  view,  they  could 
quickly  discover  wherein  he  had  been  duped  — 
for  she  still  held  him  to  be  an  unwitting 
tool  —  and  thus  quickly  clear  up  the  whole  case. 
But  for  reasons  already  known  she  failed  to  find 
him;  and  learning  that  he  had  gone  away  with 
Blake,  she  well  knew  Blake  would  keep  him  out 
of  her  reach  until  the  trial  was  over. 

In  sharpest  disappointment,  Katherine  went 
home.  With  the  trial  so  few  hours  away,  with 
all  her  new  discoveries  buzzing  chaotically  in 
her  head,  she  felt  the  need  of  advising  with  some 
one  about  the  situation.  Bruce's  offer  of  as- 
sistance recurred  to  her,  and  she  found  herself 
analyzing  the  editor  again,  just  as  she  had  done 
when  she  had  walked  away  from  his  office. 
She  rebelled  against  him  in  her  every  fibre, 
yet  at  the  same  time  she  felt  a  reluctant  liking 

158 


.THE  TRIAL  159 

for  him.  He  was  a  man  with  big  dreams,  a 
rough-and-ready  idealist,  an  idealist  with  sharply 
marked  limitations,  some  areas  of  his  mind  very 
broad,  some  dogmatically  narrow.  Opinion- 
ated, obstinate,  impulsive,  of  not  very  sound 
judgment,  yet  dictatorial  because  supremely 
certain  of  his  Tightness  —  courageous,  unselfish, 
sincere  —  that  was  the  way  she  now  saw  the 
editor  of  the  Express. 

But  he  had  sneered  at  her,  sharply  criticized 
her,  and  she  hotly  spurned  the  thought  of  asking 
his  aid.  Instead  of  him,  she  that  evening  sum- 
moned Old  Hosie  Hollingsworth  to  her  house, 
and  to  the  old  lawyer  she  told  everything.  Old 
Hosie  was  convinced  that  she  was  right,  and  was 
astounded. 

"And  to  think  that  the  good  folks  of  this 
town  used  to  denounce  me  as  a  worshipper  of 
strange  gods!"  he  ejaculated.  "Gee,  what'll 
they  say  when  they  learn  that  the  idol  they've 
been  wearing  out  their  knee-caps  on  has  got  clay 
feet  that  run  clear  up  to  his  Adam's-apple!" 

They  decided  that  it  would  be  a  mistake  for 
Katherine  to  try  to  use  her  new  theories  and 
discoveries  openly  in  defence  of  her  father.  She 
had  too  little  evidence,  and  any  unsupported 
charges  hurled  against  Blake  would  leave  that 
gentleman  unharmed  and  would  come  whirling 
back  upon  Katherine  as  a  boomerang  of  popular 
indignation.  She  dared  not  breathe  a  word 


160  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

against  the  city's  favourite  until  she  had  incon- 
trovertible proof.  Under  the  circumstances, 
the  best  course  seemed  for  her  to  ask  for  a  post- 
ponement on  the  morrow  to  enable  her  to  work 
up  further  evidence. 

"Only,"  warned  Hosie,  "you  must  remember 
that  the  chances  are  that  Blake  has  already 
slipped  the  proper  word  to  Judge  Kellog,  and 
there'll  be  no  postponement." 

"Then  I'll  have  to  depend  upon  tangling  up 
that  Mr.  Marcy  on  the  stand." 

"And  Doctor  Sherman?" 

"There'll  be  no  chance  of  entangling  him. 
He'll  tell  a  straightforward  story.  How  could 
he  tell  any  other?  Don't  you  see  how  he's  been 
used?  —  been  made  spectator  to  a  skilfully 
laid  scheme  which  he  honestly  believes  to  be 
a  genuine  case  of  bribery?" 

At  parting  Old  Hosie  held  her  hand  a  moment. 

"D'you  remember  the  prophecy  I  made  the 
day  you  took  your  office  —  that  you  would  raise 
the  dickens  in  this  old  town?" 

"Yes,"  said  Katherine. 

"Well,  that's  coming  true  —  as  sure  as  plug 
hats  don't  grow  on  fig  trees !  Only  not  in  the 
way  I  meant  then.  Not  as  a  freak.  But  as  a 
lawyer. " 

"Thank  you."  She  smiled  and  slowly  shook 
her  head.  "But  I'm  afraid  it  won't  come  true 
to-morrow. " 


THE  TRIAL  161 

"Of  course  a  prophecy  is  no  good,  unless  you 
do  your  best. " 

"Oh,  Pm  going  to  do  my  best,"  she  assured 
him. 

The  next  morning,  on  the  long  awaited  day, 
Katherine  set  out  for  the  Court  House,  throb- 
bing alternately  with  hope  and  fear  of  the  out- 
come. Mixed  with  these  was  a  perturbation 
of  a  very  different  sort  —  an  ever-growing  stage- 
fright.  For  this  last  there  was  good  reason. 
Trials  were  a  form  of  recreation  as  popular  in 
Galloway  County  as  gladiatorial  contests  in 
ancient  Rome,  and  this  trial  —  in  the  lack  of  a 
sensational  murder  in  the  county  during  the 
year  —  was  the  greatest  of  the  twelvemonth. 
Moreover,  it  was  given  added  interest  by  the 
fact  that,  for  the  first  time  in  recorded  history, 
Calloway  County  was  going  to  see  in  action  that 
weirdest  product  of  whirling  change,  a  woman 
lawyer. 

Hub  to  hub  about  the  hitch-racks  of  the 
Square  were  jammed  buggies,  surries,  spring 
wagons  ami  other  country  equipages.  The 
court-room  was  packed  an  hour  before  the  trial, 
and  in  the  corridor  were  craning,  straining, 
elbowing  folk  who  had  come  too  late.  In  the 
open  windows  —  the  court-room  was  on  the 
ground  floor  —  were  the  busts  of  eager  citizens 
whose  feet  were  pedestaled  on  boxes,  the  sale 
of  which  had  been  a  harvest  of  small  coin  to 


162 

neighbouring  grocers;  and  in  the  trees  without 
youths  of  simian  habit  clung  to  advantageous 
limbs  and  strained  to  get  a  view  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. Old  Judge  Kellog  who  usually  dozed 
on  his  twenty-first  vertebra  through  testimony 
and  argument  —  once  a  young  fledgling  of  a 
lawyer,  sailing  aloft  in  the  empyrean  of  his 
eloquence,  had  been  brought  tumbling  con- 
fusedly to  earth  by  the  snoring  of  the  bench  — 
attested  to  the  unusualness  of  the  occasion  by 
being  upright  and  awake.  And  Bud  White, 
the  clerk,  called  the  court  to  order,  not  with  his 
usual  masterpiece  of  mumbled  unintelligibility, 
brought  to  perfection  by  long  years  of  prac- 
tice, but  with  real  words  that  could  have  been 
understood  had  only  the  audience  been  list- 
ening. 

But  their  attention  was  all  fixed  upon  the 
counsel  for  the  defence.  Katherine,  in  a  plain 
white  shirt  waist  and  a  black  sailor,  sat  at  a  table 
alone  with  her  father.  Doctor  West  was  pain- 
fully nervous;  his  long  fingers  were  constantly 
twisting  among  themselves.  Katherine  was 
under  an  even  greater  strain.  She  realized  with 
an  intenser  keenness  now  that  the  moment  for 
action  was  at  hand,  that  this  was  her  first  case, 
that  her  father's  reputation,  his  happiness, 
perhaps  even  his  life,  were  at  stake;  and  she 
was  well  aware  that  all  this  theatre  of  people, 
whose  eyes  she  felt  burning  into  her  back,  re- 


THE  TRIAL  163 

garded  her  as  the  final  curiosity  of  nature. 
Behind  her,  with  young  Harper  at  his  side,  she 
had  caught  a  glimpse  of  Arnold  Bruce,  eying  her 
critically  and  sceptically  she  thought;  and  in 
the  audience  she  had  glimpsed  the  fixed,  in- 
scrutable face  of  Harrison  Blake. 

But  she  clung  blindly  to  her  determination, 
and  as  Bud  White  sat  down,  she  forced  herself 
to  rise.  A  deep  hush  spread  through  the  court- 
room. She  stood  trembling,  swallowing,  voice- 
less, a  statue  of  stage-fright,  wildly  hating  herself 
for  her  impotence.  For  a  dizzy,  agonizing  mo- 
ment she  saw  herself  a  miserable  failure  —  saw 
the  crowd  laughing  at  her  as  they  filed  out. 

A  youthful  voice,  from  a  balcony  seat  in 
an  elm  tree,  floated  in  through  the  open  win- 
dow: 

"Speak  your  piece,  little  girl,  or  set  down." 

There  was  a  titter.     She  stiffened. 

"Your  —  your  Honour, "  she  stammered,  "I 
move  a  postponement  in  order  to  allow  the 
defence  more  time  to  prepare  its  case." 

Judge  Kellog  fingered  his  patriarchal  beard. 
Katherine  stood  hardly  breathing  while  she 
waited  his  momentous  words.  But  his  answer 
was  as  Old  Hosie  had  predicted. 

"In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  defence  has 
already  had  four  months  in  which  to  prepare 
its  case,"  said  he,  "I  shall  have  to  deny  the 
motion  and  order  the  trial  to  proceed." 


164  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Katherine  sat  down.  The  hope  of  defer- 
ment was  gone.  There  remained  only  to  fight. 

A  jury  was  quickly  chosen;  Katherine  felt 
that  her  case  would  stand  as  good  a  chance  with 
any  one  selection  of  twelve  men  as  with  any 
other.  Kennedy  then  stepped  forward.  With 
an  air  that  was  a  blend  of  his  pretentious  —  if 
rather  raw-boned  —  dignity  as  a  coming  states- 
man, of  extreme  deference  toward  Katherine's 
sex,  and  of  the  sense  of  his  personal  belittlement 
in  being  pitted  against  such  a  legal  weakling, 
he  outlined  to  the  jury  what  he  expected  to 
prove.  After  which,  he  called  Mr.  Marcy  to  the 
stand. 

The  agent  of  the  filter  company  gave  his 
evidence  with  that  degree  of  shame-facedness 
proper  to  the  man,  turned  state's  witness,  who 
has  been  an  accomplice  in  the  dishonourable 
proceedings  he  is  relating.  It  all  sounded  and 
looked  so  true  —  so  very,  very  true ! 

When  Katherine  came  to  cross-examine  him, 
she  gazed  at  him  steadily  a  moment.  She  knew 
that  he  was  lying,  and  she  knew  that  he  knew 
that  she  knew  he  was  lying.  But  he  met  her 
gaze  with  precisely  the  abashed,  guilty  air 
appropriate  to  his  role. 

What  she  considered  her  greatest  chance  was 
now  before  her.  Calling  up  all  her  wits,  she 
put  to  Mr.  Marcy  questions  that  held  distant, 
hidden  traps.  But  when  she  led  him  along  the 


THE  TRIAL  165 

devious,  unsuspicious  path  that  conducted  to 
the  trap  and  then  suddenly  shot  at  him  the 
question  that  should  have  plunged  him  into 
it,  he  very  quietly  and  nimbly  walked  around 
the  pitfall.  Again  and  again  she  tried  to  involve 
him,  but  ever  with  the  same  result.  He  was 
abashed,  ready  to  answer  —  and  always  elusive. 
At  the  end  she  had  gained  nothing  from  him, 
and  for  a  minute  stood  looking  silently  at  him 
in  baffled  exasperation. 

"Have  you  any  further  questions  to  ask  the 
witness?"  old  Judge  Kellog  prompted  her,  with 
a  gentle  impatience. 

For  a  moment,  stung  by  this  witness's  defeat 
of  her,  she  had  an  impulse  to  turn  about,  point 
her  finger  at  Blake  in  the  audience,  and  cry  out 
the  truth  to  the  courtroom  and  announce  what 
was  her  real  line  of  defence.  But  she  realized 
the  uproar  that  would  follow  if  she  dared  attack 
Blake  without  evidence,  and  she  controlled 
herself. 

"That  is  all,  Your  Honour,"  she  said. 

Mr.  Marcy  was  dismissed.  The  lean,  frock- 
coated  figure  of  Mr.  Kennedy  arose. 

"Doctor  Sherman,"  he  called. 

Doctor  Sherman  seemed  to  experience  some 
difficulty  in  making  his  way  up  to  the  witness 
stand.  When  he  faced  about  and  sat  down  the 
difficulty  was  explained  to  the  crowd.  He  was 
plainly  a  sick  man.  Whispers  of  sympathy  ran 


166  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

about  the  court-room.  Every  one  knew  how  he 
had  sacrificed  a  friend  to  his  sense  of  civic  duty, 
and  everyone  knew  what  pain  that  act  must  have 
caused  a  man  with  such  a  high-strung  conscience. 

With  his  hands  tightly  gripping  the  arms  of  his 
chair,  his  bright  and  hollow  eyes  fastened  upon 
the  prosecutor,  Doctor  Sherman  began  in  a  low 
voice  to  deliver  his  direct  testimony.  Katherine 
listened  to  him  rather  mechanically  at  first, 
even  with  a  twinge  of  sympathy  for  his  obvious 
distress. 

But  though  her  attention  was  centred  here 
in  the  court-room,  her  brain  was  subconsciously 
ranging  swiftly  over  all  the  details  of  the  case. 
Far  down  in  the  depths  of  her  mind  the  question 
was  faintly  suggesting  itself,  if  one  witness  is  a 
guilty  participant  in  the  plot,  then  why  not 
possibly  the  other?  —  when  she  saw  Doctor 
Sherman  give  a  quick  glance  in  the  direction 
where  she  knew  sat  Harrison  Blake.  That 
glance  brought  the  question  surging  up  to  the 
surface  of  her  conscious  mind,  and  she  sat  be- 
wildered, mentally  gasping.  She  did  not  see 
how  it  could  be,  she  could  not  understand  his 
motive  —  but  in  the  sickly  face  of  Doctor  Sher- 
man, in  his  strained  manner,  she  now  read  guilt. 

Thrilling  with  an  unexpected  hope,  Katherine 
rose  and  tried  to  keep  herself  before  the  eyes  of 
Doctor  Sherman  like  an  accusing  conscience. 
But  he  avoided  her  gaze,  and  told  his  story  in 


THE  TRIAL  167 

every  detail  just  as  when  Doctor  West  had  been 
first  accused.  When  Kennedy  turned  him  over 
for  cross-examination,  Katherine  walked  up  be- 
fore him  and  looked  him  straight  in  the  eyes 
a  full  moment  without  speaking.  He  could  no 
longer  avoid  her  gaze.  In  his  eyes  she  read 
something  that  seemed  to  her  like  mortal  terror. 

"Doctor  Sherman,"  she  said  slowly,  clearly, 
"  is  there  nothing  you  would  like  to  add  to  your 
testimony?" 

His  words  were  a  long  time  coming.  Kather- 
ine's  life  hung  suspended  while  she  waited  his 
answer. 

"Nothing,"  he  said. 

"There  is  no  fact,  no  detail,  that  you  may 
have  omitted  in  your  direct  testimony,  that  you 
now  desire  to  supply?" 

"Nothing." 

She  took  a  step  nearer,  bent  on  him  a  yet  more 
searching  gaze,  and  put  into  her  voice  its  all  of 
conscience-stirring  power. 

"You  wish  to  go  on  record  then,  before  this 
court,  before  this  audience,  before  the  God  whom 
you  have  appealed  to  in  your  oath,  as  having 
told  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth?" 

He  averted  his  eyes  and  was  silent  a  moment. 
For  that  moment  Blake,  back  in  the  audience, 
did  not  breathe.  To  the  crowd  it  seemed  that 
Doctor  Sherman  was  searching  his  mind  for 


i68  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

some  possible  trivial  omission.  To  Katherine 
it  seemed  that  he  was  in  the  throes  of  a  final 
struggle. 

"  You  wish  thus  to  go  on  record  ? "  she  solemnly 
insisted. 

He  looked  back  at  her. 

"I  do,  "he  breathed. 

She  realized  now  how  desperate  was  this 
man's  determination,  how  tightly  his  lips  were 
locked.  But  she  had  picked  up  another  thread 
of  this  tangled  skein,  and  that  made  her  exult 
with  a  new  hope.  She  went  spiritedly  at  the 
cross-examination  of  Doctor  Sherman,  striving 
to  break  him  down.  So  sharp,  so  rigid,  so  search- 
ing were  her  questions,  that  there  were  murmurs 
in  the  audience  against  such  treatment  of  a 
sincere,  high-minded  man  of  God.  But  the 
swiftness  and  cleverness  of  her  attack  availed 
her  nothing.  Doctor  Sherman,  nerved  by  last 
evening's  talk  beside  the  river,  made  never  a 
slip. 

From  the  moment  she  reluctantly  discharged 
him  she  felt  that  her  chance  —  her  chance  for 
that  day,  at  least  —  was  gone.  But  she  was 
there  to  fight  to  the  end,  and  she  put  her  only 
witness,  her  father,  upon  the  stand.  His  de- 
fence, that  he  was  the  victim  of  a  misunder- 
standing, was  smiled  at  by  the  court-room  — 
and  smiled  at  with  apparently  good  reason,  since 
Kennedy,  in  anticipation  of  the  line  of  defense, 


THE  TRIAL  169 

had  introduced  the  check  from  the  Acme  Filter 
Company  which  Dr.  West  had  turned  over  to 
the  hospital  board,  to  prove  that  the  donation 
from  the  filter  company  had  been  in  Dr.  West's 
hands  at  the  time  he  had  received  the  bribe  from 
Mr.  Marcy.  Dr.  West  testified  that  the  letter 
containing  this  check  had  not  been  opened  until 
many  days  after  his  arrest,  and  Katharine  took 
the  stand  and  swore  that  it  was  she  herself  who 
had  opened  the  envelope.  But  even  while  she 
testified  she  saw  that  she  was  not  believed;  and 
she  had  to  admit  within  herself  that  her 
father's  story  appeared  absurdly  implausible, 
compared  to  the  truth-visaged  falsehoods^  of  the 
prosecution. 

But  when  the  evidence  was  all  in  and  the 
time  for  argument  was  come,  Katherine  called 
up  her  every  resource,  she  remembered  that 
truth  was  on  her  side,  and  she  presented  the 
case  clearly  and  logically,  and  ended  with  a 
strong  and  eloquent  plea  for  her  father.  As 
she  sat  down,  there  was  a  profound  hush  in 
the  court-room. 

Her  father  squeezed  her  hand.  Tears  stood 
in  his  eyes. 

"Whatever  happens,"  he  whispered,  "I'm 
proud  of  my  daughter." 

Kennedy's  address  was  brief  and  perfunctory, 
for  the  case  seemed  too  easy  to  warrant  his  exer- 
tion. Still  stimulated  by  the  emotion  aroused 


170  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

by  her  own  speech  and  the  sense  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  her  cause,  Katherine  watched  the  jury  go 
out  with  a  fluttering  hope.  She  still  clung  to  hope 
when,  after  a  short  absence,  the  jury  filed  back 
in.  She  rose  and  held  her  breath  while  they 
took  their  seats. 

"You  have  reached  a  verdict,  gentlemen?" 
asked  Judge  Kellog. 

"We  have,"  answered  the  foreman. 

"What  is  it?" 

"We  find  the  defendant  guilty." 

Doctor  West  let  out  a  little  moan,  and  his 
head  fell  forward  into  his  arms.  Katherine 
bent  over  him  and  whispered  a  word  of  comfort 
into  his  ear;  then  rose  and  made  a  motion  for 
a  new  trial.  Judge  Kellog  denied  the  motion, 
and  haltingly  asked  Doctor  West  to  step  forward 
to  the  bar.  Doctor  West  did  so,  and  the  two 
old  men,  who  had  been  friends  since  childhood, 
looked  at  each  other  for  a  space.  Then  in  a 
husky  voice  Judge  Kellog  pronounced  sen- 
tence: One  thousand  dollars  fine  and  six  months 
in  the  county  jail. 

It  was  a  light  sentence  —  but  enough  to 
blacken  an  honest  name  for  life,  enough  to 
break  a  sensitive  heart  like  Doctor  West's. 

A  little  later  Katherine,  holding  an  arm  of  her 
father  tightly  within  her  own,  walked  with  him 
and  fat,  good-natured  Sheriff  Nichols  over  to 
the  old  brick  county  jail.  And  yet  a  little 


THE  TRIAL  171 

later,  erect,  eyes  straight  before  her,  she  came 
down  the  jail  steps  and  started  homeward. 

As  she  was  passing  along  the  Square,  immedi- 
ately before  her  Harrison  Blake  came  out  of 
his  stairway  and  started  across  the  sidewalk  to 
his  waiting  car.  Discretion  urged  her  to  silence; 
but  passion  was  the  stronger.  She  stepped 
squarely  up  before  him  and  flashed  him  a  blaz- 
ing look. 

"Well  —  and  so  you  think  you've  won!" 
she  cried  in  a  low  voice. 

His  colour  changed,  but  instantly  he  was 
master  of  himself. 

"What,  Katherine,  you  still  persist  in  that 
absurd  idea  of  yesterday." 

"Oh,  drop  that  pretence!  We  know  each 
other  too  well  for  that!"  She  moved  nearer 
and,  trembling  from  head  to  foot,  her  passionate 
defiance  burst  all  bounds.  "You  think  you 
have  won,  don't  you!"  she  hotly  cried.  "Well, 
let  me  tell  you  that  this  affair  is  not  merely  a 
battle  that  was  to-day  won  and  ended!  It's 
a  war  —  and  I  have  just  begun  to  fight!" 

And  sweeping  quickly  past  him,  she  walked 
on  into  Main  Street  and  down  it  through  the 
staring  crowds  —  very  erect,  a  red  spot  in  either 
cheek,  her  eyes  defiantly  meeting  every  eye 


CHAPTER  XII 

OPPORTUNITY    KNOCKS    AT    BRUCE?S    DOOR 

ON  THE  following  morning  Bruce  had 
just  finished  an  editorial  on  Doctor 
West's  trial,  and  was  busily  thumping 
out  an  editorial  on  the  local  political  situation 
—  the  Republican  and  Democratic  conventions 
were  both  but  a  few  days  off  —  when,  lifting 
his  scowling  gaze  to  his  window  while  search- 
ing for  the  particular  word  he  needed,  he  saw 
Katherine  passing  along  the  sidewalk  across  the 
street.  Her  face  was  fresh,  her  step  springy; 
hers  was  any  but  a  downcast  figure.  Forget- 
ting his  editorial,  he  watched  her  turn  the  corner 
of  the  Square  and  go  up  the  broad,  worn  steps 
of  the  dingy  old  county  jail. 

"Well,  what  do  we  think  of  her?"  queried 
a  voice  at  his  elbow. 

Bruce  turned  abruptly. 

"Oh,  it's  you,  Billy.     D'you  see  Blake?" 

"Yes."  The  young  fellow  sank  loungingly 
into  the  atlas-seated  chair.  "He  wouldn't  say 
anything  definite.  Said  it  was  up  to  the  con- 
vention to  pick  the  candidates.  But  it's  plain 

172 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  173 

Kennedy's  his  choice  for  mayor,  and  we'll  be 
playing  perfectly  safe  in  predicting  Kennedy's 
nomination. " 

"And  Peck?" 

"Blind  Charlie  said  it  was  too  early  to  make 
any  forecasts.  In  doubt  as  to  whom  they'd 
put  forward  for  mayor. " 

"Would  Blake  say  anything  about  Doctor 
West's  conviction  ? " 

"Sorry  for  Doctor  West's  sake  —  but  the 
case  was  clear  —  trial  fair  —  a  wholesome  ex- 
ample to  the  city  —  and  some  more  of  that 
line  of  talk. " 

Bruce  grunted. 

The  reporter  leisurely  lit  a  cigarette. 

"But  how  about  the  lady  lawyer,  eh?"  He 
playfully  prodded  his  superior's  calf  with  his 
pointed  shoe.  "I  suppose  you'll  fire  me  off 
your  rotten  old  sheet  for  saying  it,  but  I  still 
think  she  made  a  damned  good  showing  con- 
sidering that  she  had  no  case  —  and  considering 
also  that  she  was  a  woman."  Again  he  thrust 
his  toe  into  his  chief.  "Considering  she  was 
a  woman  —  eh,  Arn?" 

"Shut  up,  Billy,  or  I  will  fire  you,"  growled 
Bruce. 

"Oh,  all  right,"  answered  the  other  cheerfully. 
"After  half  a  year  of  the  nerve-racking  social 
whirl  of  this  metropolis,  I  think  it  would  be 
sort  of  restful  to  be  back  in  dear,  little,  quiet 


174  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Chicago.  But  seriously  now,  Arn,  you've  got 
to  admit  she's  good-looking?" 

"Good  looks  don't  make  a  lawyer!"  retorted 
Bruce. 

"  But  she's  clever  —  got  ideas  —  opinions  of 
her  own,  and  strong  ones  too." 

"Perhaps." 

The  reporter  blew  out  a  cloud  of  smoke. 

"Arn,  Fve  been  thinking  about  a  very  in- 
teresting possibility. " 

"Well,  make  it  short,  and  get  in  there  and 
write  your  story!" 

"I've  been  thinking,"  continued  Billy  medi- 
tatively, "over  what  an  interesting  situation 
it  would  make  if  the  super-masculine  editor 
of  the  Express  should  fall  in  love  with  the  lady 
law " 

Bruce  sprang  up. 

"Confound  you,  Billy!  If  I  don't  crack  that 
empty  little ': 

But  Billy,  tilted  back  in  his  chair,  held  out  his 
cigarette  case  imperturbably. 

"Take  one,  Arn.  You'll  find  them  very 
soothing  for  the  nerves." 

"You  impertinent  little  pup,  you!"  He 
grabbed  Billy  by  his  long  hair,  held  him  a 
moment  —  then  grinned  affectionately  and  took 
a  cigarette.  "You're  the  worst  ever!"  He 
dropped  back  into  his  chair.  "Now  shut  up!" 

"All  right.     But  speaking  impersonally,  and 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  175 

with  the  unemotional  aloofness  of  a  critic,  you'll 
have  to  admit  that  it  would  make  a  good  dra- 
matic situation. " 

"Blast  you!"  cried  the  editor.  "Shall  I 
fire  you,  or  chuck  you  through  the  window?" 

"Inasmuch  as  our  foremost  scientists  are 
uniformly  agreed  that  certain  unpleasant  results 
may  eventuate  when  the  force  of  gravitation 
brings  a  human  organism  into  sudden  and  severe 
juxtaposition  with  a  cement  sidewalk,  I  humbly 
suggest  that  you  fire  me.  Besides,  that  act 
will  automatically  avenge  me,  for  then  your 
yellow  old  newspaper  will  go  plum  to  blazes!" 

"For  God's  sake,  Billy,  get  out  of  here  and 
let  me  work ! " 

"But,  seriously,  Arn  —  I  really  am  serious 
now"  —  and  all  the  mischief  had  gone  out  of 
the  reporter's  eyes  —  "that  Miss  West  would 
have  put  up  a  stunning  fight  if  she  had  had  any 
sort  of  a  case.  But  she  had  nothing  to  fight  with. 
They  certainly  had  the  goods  on  her  old  man!" 

Bruce  turned  from  his  machine  and  regarded 
the  reporter  thoughtfully.  Then  he  crossed 
and  closed  the  door  which  was  slightly  ajar, 
and  again  fixed  his  eyes  searchingly  on  young 
Harper. 

"Billy,"  he  said  in  a  low,  impressive  voice, 
"can  you  keep  a  big  secret?" 

At  Bruce's  searching,  thoughtful  gaze  a  look 
of  humility  crept  into  Billy's  face. 


176  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Oh,  I  know  you've  got  every  right  to  doubt 
me,"  he  acknowledged.  "I  certainly  did  leak 
a  lot  at  the  mouth  in  Chicago  when  I  was 
boozing  so  much.  But  you  know  since  you 
pulled  me  out  of  that  wild  bunch  I  was  drink- 
ing my  way  to  hell  with  and  brought  me  down 
here,  I've  been  screwed  tight  as  a  board  to  the 
water-wagon!" 

"I  know  it,  Billy.  I  shouldn't  for  an 
instant " 

"And,  Arn,"  interrupted  Billy,  putting  his 
arm  contritely  across  the  other's  shoulder, 
"even  though  I  do  joke  at  you  a  little  —  simply 
can't  help  it  —  you  know  how  eternally  grate- 
ful I  am  to  you !  You're  giving  me  the  chance 
of  my  life  to  make  a  man  of  myself.  People  in 
this  town  don't  half  appreciate  you;  they  don't 
know  you  for  what  I  know  you  —  the  best 
fellow  that  ever  happened!" 

"There,  there!  Cut  it  out,  cut  it  out!" 
said  Bruce  gruffly,  gripping  the  other's  hand. 

"That's  always  the  way,"  said  Billy,  re- 
sentfully. "Your  only  fault  is  that  you  are 
so  infernally  bull-headed  that  a  fellow  can't 
even  thank  you. " 

;t  You're  thanking  me  the  right  way  when 
you  keep  yourself  bolted  fast  to  the  water-cart. 
What  I  started  out  to  tell  you,  what  I  want 
you  to  keep  secret,  is  this:  They  put  the  wrong 
man  in  jail  yesterday." 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  177 

"What!"   ejaculated   Billy,    springing  up. 

"I  tell  you  this  much  because  I  want  you  to 
keep  your  eye  on  the  story.  Hell's  likely  to 
break  loose  there  any  time,  and  I  want  you  to 
be  ready  to  handle  it  in  case  I  should  have  to 
be  off  the  job." 

"Good  God,  old  man!"  Billy  stared  at  him. 
"What's  behind  all  this?  If  Doctor  West's 
the  wrong  man,  then  who's  the  right  one?" 

"I  can't  tell  you  any  more  now." 

"But  how  did  you  find  this  out?" 

"I  said  I  couldn't  tell  you  any  more." 

A  knowing  look  came  slowly  Into  Billy's 
face. 

"H'm.  So  that  was  what  Miss  West  called 
here  about  day  before  yesterday. " 

"Get  in  there  and  write  your  story,"  said 
Bruce  shortly,  and  again  sat  down  before  his 
typewriter. 

Billy  stood  rubbing  his  head  dazedly  for  a 
long  space,  then  he  slowly  moved  to  the  door. 
He  opened  it  and  paused. 

"Oh,  I  say,  Arn, "  he  remarked  in  an  innocent 
tone. 

"Yes?" 

"After  all,"  he  drawled,  "it  would  make  an 
interesting  dramatic  situation,  wouldn't  it?" 

Bruce  whirled  about  and  threw  a  statesman's 
year  book,  but  young  Harper  was  already  on  the 
safe  side  of  the  door;  and  the  incorrigible  Billy 


178  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

was  saved  from  any  further  acts  of  reprisal 
being  attempted  upon  his  person  by  the  ring- 
ing of  Brace's  telephone. 

Bruce  picked  up  the  instrument. 

"Hello.     Who's  this?"  he  demanded. 

"Mr.  Peck,"  was  the  answer. 

"What!  You  don't  mean  'Blind  Charlie'?" 

"Yes.  I  called  up  to  see  if  you  could  come 
over  to  the  hotel  for  a  little  talk  about  politics." 

"If  you  want  to  talk  to  me  you  know  where 
to  find  me!  Good-by!" 

"Wait!  Wait!  What  time  will  you  be 
in?" 

"The  paper  goes  to  press  at  two-thirty.  Any 
time  after  then. " 

"I'll  drop  around  before  three." 

Four  hours  later  Bruce  was  glancing  thrdtugh 
that  afternoon's  paper,  damp  from  the  press, 
when  there  entered  his  office  a  stout,  half-bald 
man  of  sixty-five,  with  loose,  wrinkled,  pouchy 
skin,  drooping  nose,  and  a  mouth  —  stained 
faintly  brown  at  its  corners  —  whose  cunning 
was  not  entirely  masked  by  a  good-natured 
smile.  One  eye  had  a  shrewd  and  beady  bright- 
ness; the  gray  film  over  the  other  announced 
it  without  sight.  This  was  "Blind  Charlie" 
Peck,  the  king  of  Calloway  County  politics 
until  Blake  had  hurled  him  from  his  throne. 

Brace  greeted  the  fallen  monarch  curtly  and 
asked  him  to  sit  down.  Brace  did  not  resume 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  179 

his  seat,  but  half  leaned  against  his  desk  and 
eyed  Blind  Charlie  with  open  disfavour. 

The  old  man  settled  himself  and  smiled  his 
good-natured  smile  at  the  editor. 

"Well,  Mr.  Bruce,  this  is  mighty  dry  weather 
we're  having. " 

"  Yes.     What  do  you  want ? " 

"Well  —  well —  "  said  the  old  man,  a  little 
taken  aback,  "you  certainly  do  jump  into  the 
middle  of  things. " 

"I've  found  that  the  quickest  way  to  get 
there,"  retorted  Bruce.  "You  know  there's  no 
use  in  you  and  me  wasting  any  words.  You 
know  well  enough  what  I  think  of  you." 

"I  ought  to,"  returned  Blind  Charlie,  dryly, 
but  with  good  humour.  "You've  said  it  often 
enough. " 

"Well,  that  there  may  be  no  mistake  about 
it,  I'll  say  it  once  more.  You're  a  good- 
natured,  good-hearted,  cunning,  unprincipled, 
hardened  old  rascal  of  a  politician.  Now  if  you 
don't  want  to  say  what  you  came  here  to  say, 
the  same  route  that  brings  you  in  here  takes 
you  out. " 

"Come,  come,"  said  the  old  man,  soothingly. 
"I  think  you  have  said  a  lot  of  harder  things 
than  were  strictly  necessary  —  especially  since 
we  both  belong  to  the  same  party." 

"That's  one  reason  I've  said  them.  You've 
been  running  the  party  most  of  your  life — you're 


i8o  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

still  running  it  —  and  see  what  you've  made  of 
it.  Every  decent  member  is  ashamed  of  it! 
It  stinks  all  through  the  state!" 

Blind  Charlie's  face  did  not  lose  its  smile  of 
imperturbable  good  nature.  It  was  a  tradition 
of  Galloway  County  that  he  had  never  lost 
his  temper. 

"You're  a  very  young  man,  Mr.  Bruce," 
said  the  old  politician,  "and  young  blood  loves 
strong  language.  But  suppose  we  get  away 
from  personalities,  and  getaway  from  the  party's 
past  and  talk  about  its  present  and  its  future. " 

"I  don't  see  that  it  has  any  present  or  future 
to  talk  about,  with  you  at  the  helm. " 

"Oh,  come  now!  Granted  that  my  ways 
haven't  been  the  best  for  the  party.  Granted 
that  you  don't  like  me.  Is  that  any  reason  we 
shouldn't  at  least  talk  things  over?  Now,  I 
admit  we  don't  stand  the  shadow  of  a  ghost's 
show  this  election  unless  we  make  some  changes. 
You  represent  the  element  in  the  party  that  has 
talked  most  for  changes,  and  I  have  come  to 
get  your  views." 

Bruce  studied  the  loose-skinned,  flabby  face, 
wondering  what  was  going  on  behind  that  old 
mask. 

"What  are  your  own  views?"  he  demanded 
shortly. 

Blind  Charlie  had  taken  out  a  plug  of  tobacco 
and  with  a  jack-knife  had  cut  off  a  thin  slice. 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  181 

This,    held    between    thumb    and    knife-blade, 
he  now  slowly  transferred  to  his  mouth. 

"Perhaps  they're  nearer  your  own  than  you 
think.  I  see,  too,  that  the  old  ways  won't 
serve  us  now.  Blake  will  put  up  a  good  ticket. 
I  hear  Kennedy  is  to  be  his  mayor.  The  whole 
ticket  will  be  men  who'll  be  respectable,  but 
they'll  see  that  Blake  gets  what  he  wants.  Isn't 
that  so?" 

Bruce  thought  suddenly  of  Blake's  scheme 
to  capture  the  water-works. 

"Very  likely,"  he  admitted. 

"Now  between  ourselves,"  the  old  man  went 
on  confidingly,  "we  know  that  Blake  has  been 
getting  what  he  wants  for  years  —  of  course  in  a 
quiet,  moderate  way.  Did  you  ever  think  of 
this,  how  the  people  here  call  me  a  'boss'  but 
never  think  of  Blake  as  one?  Blake's  an  cemi- 
nent  citizen.'  When  the  fact  is,  he's  a  stronger, 
cleverer  boss  than  I  ever  was.  My  way  is  the 
old  way;  it's  mostly  out  of  date.  Blake's 
way  is  the  new  way.  He's  found  out  that  the 
best  method  to  get  the  people  is  to  be  clean, 
or  to  seem  clean.  If  I  wanted  a  thing  I  used 
to  go  out  and  grab  it.  If  Blake  wants  a  thing 
he  makes  it  appear  that  he's  willing  to  go  to 
considerable  personal  trouble  to  take  it  in 
order  to  do  a  favour  to  the  city,  and  the  people 
fall  all  over  themselves  to  give  it  to  him.  He's 
got  the  churches  lined  up  as  solid  behind  him 


182  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

as  I  used  to  have  the  saloons.  Now  I  know 
we  can't  beat  Blake  with  the  kind  of  a  ticket  our 
party  has  been  putting  up.  And  I  know  we 
can't  beat  Blake  with  a  respectable  ticket, 
for  between  our  respectables ': 

"Charlie  Peck's  respectables!"  Bruce  in- 
terrupted ironically. 

"And  Blake's  respectables,"  the  old  man  con- 
tinued imperturbably,  "the  people  will  choose 
Blake's.  Are  my  conclusions  right  so  far?" 

"Couldn't  be  more  right.     What  next?" 

"As  I  figure  it  out,  our  only  chance,  and  that 
a  bare  fighting  chance,  is  to  put  up  men  who  are 
not  only  irreproachable,  but  who  are  radicals 
and  fighters.  We've  got  to  do  something  new, 
big,  sensational,  or  we're  lost. " 

"Well?"  said  Bruce. 

"I  was  thinking,"  said  Blind  Charlie,  "that 
our  best  move  would  be  to  run  you  for  mayor. " 

"Me?"  cried  Bruce,  starting  forward. 

"Yes.  You've  got  ideas.  And  you're  a 
fighter." 

Bruce  scrutinized  the  old  face,  all  suspicion. 

"See  here,  Charlie,"  he  said  abruptly,  "what 
the  hell's  your  game?" 

"My  game?" 

"Oh,  come!  Don't  expect  me  to  believe  in 
you  when  you  pose  as  a  reformer!" 

"See  here,  Bruce,"  said  the  other  a  little 
sharply,  "you've  called  me  about  every  dirty 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  183 

word  lying  around  handy  in  the  Middle  West. 
But  you  never  called  me  a  hypocrite. " 

"No." 

"Well,  I'm  not  coming  to  you  now  pretending 
that  I've  been  holding  a  little  private  revival, 
and  that  I've  been  washed  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb." 

"Then  what's  behind  this?  What's  in  it 
for  you?" 

"I'll  tell  you  —  though  of  course  I  can't 
make  you  believe  me  if  you  don't  want  to. 
I'm  getting  pretty  old  —  I'm  sixty-seven.  I 
may  not  live  till  another  campaign.  I'd  like 
to  see  the  party  win  once  more  before  I  go. 
That's  one  thing.  Another  is,  I've  got  it  in 
for  Blake,  and  want  to  see  him  licked.  I 
can't  do  either  in  my  way.  I  can  possibly 
do  both  in  your  way.  Mere  personal  satis- 
faction like  this  would  have  been  mighty  little 
for  me  to  have  got  out  of  an  election  in  the  old 
days.  But  it's  better  than  nothing  at  all"  — 
smiling  good-naturedly  —  "even  to  a  cunning, 
unprincipled,  hardened  old  rascal  of  a  poli- 
tician." 

"But  what's  the  string  tied  to  this  offer?" 

"None.  You  can  name  the  ticket,  write 
the  platform " 

"It  would  be  a  radical  one!"  warned  Bruce. 

"It  would  have  to  be  radical.  Our  only 
chance  is  in  creating  a  sensation." 


184  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"And  if  elected?" 

"You  shall  make  every  appointment  without 
let  or  hindrance.  I  know  I'd  be  a  fool  to  try  to 
bind  you  in  any  way. " 

Bruce  was  silent  a  long  time,  studying  the 
wrinkled  old  face. 

"Well,  what  do  you  say?"  queried  Blind 
Charlie. 

"Frankly,  I  don't  like  being  mixed  up  with 
you." 

"But  you  believe  in  using  existing  party 
machinery,  don't  you?  You've  said  so  in  the 
Express. " 

"Yes.  But  I  also  have  said  that  I  don't 
believe  in  using  it  the  way  you  have." 

"Well,  here's  your  chance  to  take  it  and  use 
it  your  own  way." 

"But  what  show  would  I  stand?  Feeling  in 
town  is  running  strong  against  radical  ideas." 

"I  know,  I  know.  But  you  are  a  fighter, 
and  with  your  energy  you  might  turn  the 
current.  Besides,  something  big  may  happen 
before  election." 

That  same  thought  had  been  pulsing  excitedly 
in  Bruce's  brain  these  last  few  minutes.  If 
Katherine  could  only  get  her  evidence! 

Bruce  moved  to  the  window  and  looked  out 
so  that  that  keen  one  eye  of  Blind  Charlie  might 
not  perceive  the  exultation  he  could  no  longer 
keep  out  of  his  face.  Bruce  did  not  see  the 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  185 

tarnished  dome  of  the  Court  House  —  nor  the 
grove  of  broad  elms,  shrivelled  and  dusty  — 
nor  the  enclosing  quadrangle  of  somnolent, 
drooping  farm  horses.  He  was  seeing  this 
town  shaken  as  by  an  explosion.  He  was  seeing 
cataclysmic  battle,  with  Blind  Charlie  become 
a  nonentity,  Blake  completely  annihilated,  and 
himself  victorious  at  the  front.  And,  dream 
of  his  dreams!  he  was  seeing  himself  free  to 
reshape  Westville  upon  his  own  ideals. 

"Well,  what  do  you  say?"  asked  Blind  Charlie. 

Controlling  himself,   Bruce  turned  about. 

"I  accept,  upon  the  conditions  you  have 
named.  But  at  the  first  sign  of  an  attempt 
to  limit  those  conditions,  I  throw  the  whole 
business  overboard." 

"There  will  be  no  such  attempt,  so  we  can 
consider  the  matter  settled."  Blind  Charlie 
held  out  his  hand,  which  Bruce,  with  some  hesi- 
tation, accepted.  "I  congratulate  you,  I  con- 
gratulate myself,  I  congratulate  the  party. 
With  you  as  leader,  I  think  we've  all  got  a 
fighting  chance  to  win." 

They  discussed  details  of  Brace's  candidacy, 
they  discussed  the  convention;  and  a  little  later 
Blind  Charlie  departed.  Bruce,  fists  deep  in 
trousers  pockets,  paced  up  and  down  his  little 
office,  or  sat  far  down  in  his  chair  gazing  at 
nothing,  in  excited,  searching  thought.  Billy 
Harper  and  other  members  of  the  staff,  who 


186  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

came  in  to  him  with  questions,  were  answered 
absently  with  monosyllables.  At  length,  when 
the  Court  House  clock  droned  the  hour  of  five 
through  the  hot,  burnt-out  air,  Bruce  washed 
his  hands  and  brawny  forearms  at  the  old  iron 
sink  in  the  rear  of  the  reporter's  room,  put  on 
his  coat,  and  strode  up  Main  Street.  But 
instead  of  following  his  habit  and  turning  off 
into  Station  Avenue,  where  was  situated  the 
house  in  which  he  and  Old  Hosie  ate  and  slept 
and  had  their  quarrels,  he  continued  his  way 
and  turned  into  an  avenue  beyond  —  on  his 
face  the  flush  of  defiant  firmness  of  the  bold 
man  who  finds  himself  doing  the  exact  thing  he 
had  sworn  that  he  would  never  do. 

He  swung  open  the  gate  of  the  West  yard, 
and  with  firm  step  went  up  to  the  house  and 
rang  the  bell.  When  the  screen  swung  open 
Katherine  herself  was  in  the  doorway  —  look- 
ing rather  excited,  trimly  dressed,  on  her  head 
a  little  hat  wound  with  a  veil. 

"May  I  come  in?"  he  asked  shortly. 

"Why,  certainly,"  and  she  stepped  aside. 

"I  didn't  know." 

He  bowed  and  entered  the  parlour  and  stood 
rather  stiffly  in  the  centre  of  the  room. 

"My  reason  for  daring  to  violate  your  prohi- 
bition of  three  days  ago,  and  enter  this  house,  is 
that  I  have  something  to  tell  you  that  may  prove 
to  have  some  bearing  upon  your  father's  case." 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  187 

"Please  sit  down.  When  I  apologized  to  you 
I  considered  the  apology  as  equivalent  to  re- 
moving all  signs  against  trespassing." 

They  sat  down,  and  for  a  moment  they  gazed 
at  eacrTother,  still  feeling  themselves  antagonists, 
though  allies  —  she  smilingly  at  her  ease,  he 
grimly  serious. 

"Now,  please,  what  is  it?"  she  asked. 

Bruce,  speaking  reservedly  at  first,  told  her 
of  Blind  Charlie's  offer.  As  he  spoke  he  warmed 
up  and  was  quite  excited  when  he  ended.  "And 
now, "  he  cried,  "  don't  you  see  how  this  works 
in  with  the  fight  to  clear  your  father?  It's 
a  great  opportunity  —  haven't  thought  out  yet 
just  how  we  can  use  it  —  that  will  depend  upon 
developments,  perhaps  —  but  it's  a  great  op- 
portunity! We'll  sweep  Blake  completely  and 
utterly  from  power,  reinstate  your  father  in 
position  and  honour,  and  make  Westville  the 
finest  city  of  the  Middle  West!" 

But  she  did  not  seem  to  be  fired  by  the  torch 
of  his  enthusiasm.  In  fact,  there  was  a  thought- 
ful, questioning  look  upon  her  face. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it  ? "  he  demanded. 

"I  have  been  given  to  understand,"  she  said 
pleasantly,  "that  it  is  unwomanly  to  have 
opinions  upon  politics." 

He  winced. 

"This  is  hardly  the  time  for  sarcasm.  What 
do  you  think?" 


i88  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"If  you  want  my  frank  opinion,  I  am  rather 
inclined  to  beware  of  Greeks  bearing  gifts," 
she  replied. 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"When  a  political  boss,  and  a  boss  notoriously 
corrupt,  offers  an  office  to  a  good  man.  I 
think  the  good  man  should  be  very,  very  sus- 
picious." 

"You  think  Peck  has  some  secret  corrupt 
purpose?  I've  been  scrutinizing  the  offer  for 
two  hours.  I  know  the  ins  and  outs  of  the 
local  political  situation  from  A  to  Z.  I  know 
all  Peck's  tricks.  But  I  have  not  found  the 
least  trace  of  a  hidden  motive." 

"Perhaps  you  haven't  found  it  because  it's 
hidden  so  shrewdly,  so  deeply,  that  it  can't 
be  seen." 

"I  haven't  found  it  because  it's  not  there 
to  find!"  retorted  Bruce.  "Peck's  motive  is 
just  what  he  told  me;  I'm  convinced  he  was 
telling  the  truth.  It's  a  plain  case,  and  not  an 
uncommon  case,  of  a  politician  preferring  the 
chance  of  victory  with  a  good  ticket,  to  certain 
defeat  with  a  ticket  more  to  his  liking." 

"I  judge,  then,  that  you  are  inclined  to 
accept." 

"I  have  accepted,"  said  Bruce. 

"I  hope  it  will  turn  out  better  than  worst 
suspicion  might  make  us  fear." 

"Oh,  it  will!"  he  declared.     "And  mark  me, 


OPPORTUNITY  KNOCKS  189 

it's  going  to  turn  out  a  far  bigger  thing  for  your 
father  than  you  seem  to  realize." 

"I  hope  that  more  fervently  than  do  you!" 

"I  suppose  you  are  going  to  keep  up  your 
fight  for  your  father?" 

"I  expect  to  do  what  I  can,"  she  answered 
calmly. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

She  smiled  sweetly,  apologetically. 

"You  forget  only  one  day  has  passed  since 
the  trial.  You  can  hardly  expect  a  woman's 
mind  to  lay  new  plans  as  quickly  as  a  man's. " 

Bruce  looked  at  her  sharply,  as  though 
there  might  be  irony  in  this;  but  her  face  was 
without  guile.  She  glanced  at  her  watch. 

"Pardon  me,"  he  said,  noticing  this  action 
and  standing  up.  "You  have  your  hat  on; 
you  were  going  out?" 

"Yes.  And  I'm  afraid  I  must  ask  you  to 
excuse  me."  She  gave  him  her  hand.  "I 
hope  you  don't  mind  my  saying  it,  but  if  I  were 
you  I'd  keep  all  the  eyes  I've  got  on  Mr.  Peck." 

"Oh,  I'll  not  let  him  fool  me!"  he  answered 
confidently. 

As  he  walked  out  of  the  yard  he  was  somewhat 
surprised  to  see  the  ancient  equipage  of  Mr. 
Huggins  waiting  beside  the  curb.  And  he  was 
rather  more  surprised  when  a  few  minutes  later, 
as  he  neared  his  home,  Mr.  Huggins  drove  past 
him  toward  the  station,  with  Katherine  in  the 


i9o  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

seat  behind  him.  In  response  to  her  possessed 
little  nod  he  amazedly  lifted  his  hat.  "Now 
what  the  devil  is  she  up  to?"  he  ejaculated,  and 
stared  after  her  till  the  old  carriage  turned  in 
beside  the  station  platform.  As  he  reached 
his  gate  the  eastbound  Limited  came  roaring 
into  the  station.  The  truth  dawned  upon  him. 
"By  God,"  he  cried,  "if  she  isn't  going  back 
to  New  York!" 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    DESERTER 

BRUCE  was  incensed  at  the  cool  manner 
in  which  Katherine  had  taken  leave  of 
him  without  so  much  as  hinting  at  her 
purpose.  In  offering  her  aid  and  telling  her  his 
plans  he  had  made  certain  advances.  She 
had  responded  to  these  overtures  by  telling 
nothing.  He  felt  he  had  been  snubbed,  and  he 
resented  such  treatment  all  the  more  from  a 
woman  toward  whom  he  had  somewhat  relaxed 
his  dignity  and  his  principles. 

As  he  sat  alone  on  his  porch  that  night  he 
breathed  out  along  with  his  smoke  an  accom- 
panying fire  of  profanity;  but  for  all  his  wrath, 
he  could  not  keep  the  questions  from  arising. 
Why  had  she  gone  ?  What  was  she  going  to  do  ? 
Was  she  coming  back?  Had  she  given  up  her 
father's  case,  and  had  she  been  silent  to  him  that 
afternoon  about  her  going  for  the  simple  reason 
that  she  had  been  ashamed  to  acknowledge  her 
retreat  ? 

He  waited  impatiently  for  the  return  of  his 
uncle,  who  had  been  absent  that  evening  from 

191 


192  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

supper.  He  thought  that  Hosie  might  answer 
these  questions  since  he  knew  the  old  man  to 
be  on  friendly  terms  with  Katherine.  But  when 
Old  Hosie  did  shuffle  up  the  gravel  walk,  he 
was  almost  as  much  at  a  loss  as  his  nephew. 
True,  a  note  from  Katherine  had  been  thrust  un- 
der his  door  telling  him  she  wished  to  talk 
with  him  that  afternoon;  but  he  had  spent  the 
day  looking  at  farms  and  had  not  found  the 
note  till  his  return  from  the  country  half  an 
hour  before. 

Bruce  flung  away  his  cigar  in  exasperation, 
and  the  dry  night  air  was  vibrant  with  half- 
whispered  but  perfervid  curses.  She  was  irri- 
tating, erratic,  irrational,  irresponsible  —  pre- 
posterous, simply  preposterous  —  damn  that 
kind  of  women  anyhow!  They  pretended  to 
be  a  lot,  but  there  wasn't  a  damned  thing  to 
them! 

But  he  could  not  subdue  his  curiosity,  though 
he  fervently  informed  himself  of  the  thousand 
and  one  kinds  of  an  unblessed  fool  he  was  for 
bothering  his  head  about  her.  Nor  could  he 
banish  her  image.  Her  figure  kept  rising  be- 
fore him  out  of  the  hot,  dusty  blackness:  as 
she  had  appeared  before  the  jury  yesterday, 
slender,  spirited,  clever  —  yes,  she  had  spoken 
cleverly,  he  would  admit  that;  as  she  had  ap- 
peared in  her  parlour  that  afternoon,  a  graceful, 
courteous,  self-possessed  home  person;  as  he 


THE  DESERTER  193 

had  seen  her  in  Mr.  Huggins's  old  surrey,  with 
her  exasperating,  non-committal,  cool  little 
nod.  But  why,  oh,  why,  in  the  name  of  the 
flaming  rendezvous  of  lost  and  sizzling  souls 
couldn't  a  woman  with  her  qualities  also  have 
just  one  grain  —  only  one  single  little  grain!  — 
of  the  commonest  common-sense?" 

The  next  morning  Bruce  sent  young  Harper 
to  inquire  from  Doctor  West  in  the  jail,  and 
after  that  from  Katherine's  aunt,  why  Katherine 
had  gone  to  New  York,  whether  she  had  aban- 
doned the  case,  and  whether  she  had  gone  for 
good.  But  if  these  old  people  knew  anything, 
they  did  not  tell  it  to  Billy  Harper. 

Westville  buzzed  over  Katherine's  disappear- 
ance. The  piazzas,  the  soda-water  fountains, 
the  dry  goods  counters,  the  Ladies'  Aid,  were 
at  no  loss  for  an  explanation  of  her  departure. 
She  had  lost  her  case  —  she  had  discovered 
that  she  was  a  failure  as  a  lawyer  —  she  had 
learned  what  Westville  thought  of  her  —  so  what 
other  course  was  open  to  her  but  to  slip  out  of 
town  as  quietly  as  she  could  and  return  to  the 
place  from  which  she  had  come? 

The  Women's  Club  in  particular  rejoiced 
at  her  withdrawal.  Thank  God,  a  pernicious 
example  to  the  rising  young  womanhood  of  the 
town  was  at  last  removed!  Perhaps  woman's 
righteous  disapproval  of  Katherine  had  a  deeper 
reason  than  was  expressed  —  for  what  most 


i94  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

self-searching  person  truly  knows  the  exact 
motives  that  prompt  his  actions?  Perhaps, 
far  down  within  these  righteously  indignant 
bosoms,  was  unconsciously  but  potently  this 
question:  if  that  type  of  woman  succeeds  and 
wins  man's  approval,  then  what  is  going  to 
become  of  us  who  have  been  built  upon  man's 
former  taste?  At  any  rate,  feminine  Westville 
declared  it  a  blessing  that  "that  terrible  thing" 
was  gone. 

Westville  continued  to  buzz,  but  it  soon  had 
matters  more  worth  its  buzzing.  Pressing  the 
heels  of  one  another  there  came  two  amazing 
surprises.  The  city  had  taken  for  granted  the 
nomination  of  Kennedy  for  mayor,  but  the 
convention's  second  ballot  declared  Blake  the 
nominee.  Blake  had  given  heed  to  Mr.  Brown's 
advice  and  had  decided  to  take  no  slightest 
risk;  but  to  the  people  he  let  it  be  known 
that  he  had  accepted  the  nomination  to  help 
the  city  out  of  its  water-works  predicament, 
and  Westville,  recognizing  his  personal  sacrifice, 
rang  with  applause  of  his  public  spirit.  The 
respectable  element  looked  forward  with  self- 
congratulation  to  him  as  the  next  chief  of  the 
city  —  for  he  would  have  an  easy  victory  over 
any  low  politician  who  would  consent  to  be 
Blind  Charlie's  candidate. 

Then,  without  warning,  came  Bruce's  nomina- 
tion, with  a  splendid  list  of  lesser  candidates, 


THE  DESERTER  195 

and  upon  a  most  progressive  platform.  West- 
ville  gasped  again.  Then  recovering  from  its 
amazement,  it  was  inclined  to  take  this  nomina- 
tion as  a  joke.  But  Bruce  soon  checked  their 
jocularity.  That  he  was  fighting  for  an 
apparently  defunct  cause  seemed  to  make  no 
difference  to  him.  Perhaps  Old  Hosie  had 
spoken  more  wisely  than  he  had  intended 
when  he  had  once  sarcastically  remarked  that 
Bruce  was  "a  cross  between  a  bulldog  and  Don 
Quixote."  Certainly  the  qualities  of  both 
strains  were  now  in  evidence.  He  sprang  in- 
stantly into  the  campaign,  and  by  the  power 
and  energy  of  his  speeches  and  of  his  editorials 
in  the  Express,  he  fairly  raised  his  issue  from 
the  dead.  Bruce  did  not  have  a  show,  declared 
the  people  —  not  the  ghost  of  a  show  —  but 
if  he  maintained  the  ferocious  earnestness  with 
which  he  was  starting  out,  this  certainly  was 
going  to  be  the  hottest  campaign  which  West- 
ville  had  seen  since  Blake  had  overthrown  Blind 
Charlie  Peck. 

People  recalled  Katherine  now  and  then  to 
wonder  what  she  was  doing  and  how  mortified 
she  must  feel  over  her  fiasco,  and  to  laugh  good- 
naturedly  or  sarcastically  at  the  pricked  soap- 
bubble  of  her  pretensions.  But  the  newer  and 
present  excitement  of  the  campaign  was  forcing 
her  into  the  comparative  insignificance  of  all 
receding  phenomena  —  when,  one  late  Septem- 


196  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

her  Sunday  morning,  Westville,  or  that  select 
portion  of  Westville  which  attended  the  Wabash 
Avenue  Church,  was  astonished  by  the  sight 
of  Katherine  West  walking  very  composedly 
up  the  church's  left  aisle,  looking  in  exceedingly 
good  health  and  particularly  stunning  in  a  tailor- 
made  gown  of  rich  brown  corduroy. 

She  quietly  entered  a  vacant  pew  and  slipped 
to  a  position  which  allowed  her  an  unobstructed 
view  of  Doctor  Sherman,  and  which  allowed 
Doctor  Sherman  an  equally  unobstructed  view 
of  her.  Worshippers  who  stared  her  way  noticed 
that  she  seemed  never  to  take  her  gaze  from 
the  figure  in  the  pulpit;  and  it  was  remarked, 
after  the  service  was  over,  that  though  Doctor 
Sherman's  discourses  had  been  falling  off  of 
late  —  poor  man,  his  health  was  failing  so !  — 
to-day's  was  quite  the  poorest  sermon  he  had 
ever  preached. 

The  service  ended,  Katherine  went  quietly 
out  of  the  church,  smiling  and  bowing  to  such 
as  met  her  eyes,  and  leaving  an  active  tongue 
in  every  mouth  behind  her.  So  she  had  come 
back!  Well,  of  all  the  nerve!  Did  you  ever! 
Was  she  going  to  stay?  What  did  she  think 
she  was  going  to  do?  And  so  on  all  the  way 
home,  to  where  awaited  the  heavy  Sunday 
dinner  on  which  Westville  gorged  itself  python- 
like  —  if  it  be  not  sacrilege  to  compare  com- 
municants with  such  heathen  beasts  —  till  they 


THE  DESERTER  197 

could  scarcely  move;  till,  toward  three  o'clock, 
the  church  paper  sank  down  upon  the  dis- 
tended stomachs  of  middle  age,  and  there  arose 
from  all  the  easy  chairs  of  Westville  an  unre- 
hearsed and  somewhat  inarticulate,  but  very 
hearty,  hymnal  in  praise  of  the  bounty  of 
the  Creator. 

At  about  the  time  Westville  was  starting  up 
this  chorus,  Old  Hosie  Hollingsworth,  in  Kather- 
ine's  parlour,  deposited  his  rusty  silk  hat  upon 
the  square  mahogany  piano  that  had  been 
Doctor  West's  wedding  gift  to  his  wife.  The 
old  lawyer  lowered  himself  into  a  rocker,  crossed 
his  attenuated  legs,  and  shook  his  head. 

"Land  sakes  —  I  certainly  was  surprised  to 
get  your  note!"  he  repeated.  "When  did  you 
get  back?" 

"Late  last  night." 

He  stared  admiringly  at  her  fresh  young  figure. 

"I  must  say,  you  don't  look  much  like  a 
lawyer  who  has  lost  her  first  case  and  has 
sneaked  out  of  town  to  hide  her  mortification!" 

"Is  that  what  people  have  been  saying?" 
she  smiled.  "Well,  I  don't  feel  like  one!" 

"Then  you  haven't  given  up?" 

"Given  up?"  She  lifted  her  eyebrows.  "I've 
just  begun.  It's  still  a  hard  case,  perhaps  a 
long  case;  but  at  last  I  have  a  start.  And  I 
have  some  great  plans.  It  was  to  ask  your 
advice  about  these  plans  that  I  sent  for  you. " 


198  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"My  advice!  Huh!  I  ain't  ever  been  mar- 
ried —  not  even  so  much  as  once, "  he  com- 
mented dryly,  "but  I've  been  told  by  unfortu- 
nates that  have  that  it's  the  female  way  to  do 
a  thing  and  then  ask  whether  she  should  do 
it  or  not. " 

"Now,  don't  be  cynical!"  laughed  Katherine. 
"You  know  I  tried  to  consult  you  before  I 
went  away.  But  it  still  is  not  too  late  for  your 
advice.  I'll  put  my  plans  before  you,  and  if 
your  masculine  wisdom,  whose  superiority 
you  have  proved  by  keeping  yourself  unmarried, 
can  show  me  wherein  I'm  wrong,  I'll  change 
them  or  drop  them  altogether. " 

"  Fire  away, "  he  said,  half  grumbling.  "  What 
are  your  plans?" 

"They're  on  a  rather  big  scale.  First,  I 
shall  put  a  detective  on  the  case. " 

"That's  all  right,  but  don't  you  underesti- 
mate Harrison  Blake,"  warned  Old  Hosie. 
"Since  you've  come  back  Blake  will  be  sure 
you're  after  him.  He  will  be  on  his  guard 
against  you;  he  will  expect  you  to  use  a  de- 
tective; he  will  watch  out  for  him,  perhaps 
try  to  have  his  every  move  shadowed.  I 
suppose  you  never  thought  of  that?"  he  de- 
manded triumphantly. 

"Oh, yes  I  did,"  Katherine  returned.    "That's 
why  I'm  going  to  hire  two  detectives. " 
The  old  man  raised  his  eyebrows. 


THE  DESERTER  199 

"Two  detectives?" 

"Yes.  One  for  Mr.  Blake  to  watch.  One 
to  do  the  real  work." 

"Oh!"  It  was  an  ejaculation  of  dawning 
comprehension. 

"The  first  detective  will  be  a  mere  blind;  a 
decoy  to  engage  Mr.  Blake's  attention.  He 
must  be  a  little  obvious,  rather  blundering  —  so 
that  Mr.  Blake  can't  miss  him.  He  will  know 
nothing  about  my  real  scheme  at  all.  While 
Mr.  Blake's  attention  and  suspicion  are  fixed 
on  the  first  man,  the  second  man,  who  is  to  be 
a  real  detective  with  real  brains  in  his  head, 
will  get  in  the  real  work. " 

"Splendid!  Splendid!"  cried  Old  Hosie, 
looking  at  her  enthusiastically.  "And  yet  that 
pup  of  a  nephew  of  mine  sniffs  out,  'Her  a 
lawyer?  Nothing!  She's  only  a  woman!" 

Katherne  flushed.  "That's  what  I  want 
Mr.  Blake  to  think." 

"To  underestimate  you  —  yes,  I  see.  Have 
you  got  your  first  man?" 

"  No.  I  thought  you  might  help  me  find  him, 
for  a  local  man,  or  a  state  man,  will  be  best;  it 
will  be  easiest  for  him  to  be  found  out  to  be  a 
detective." 

"I've  got  just  the  article  for  you,"  cried  Old 
Hosie.  "You  know  Elijah  Stone?" 

"No.     But,  of  course,  I've  seen  him." 

"He's  Westville's  best  and  only.     He  thinks 


200  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

he's  something  terrible  as  a  detective  —  what 
you  might  call  a  hyper-super-ultra  detective. 
Detective  sticks  out  big  all  over  him  —  like  a 
sort  of  universal  mumps.  He  never  looks  except 
when  he  looks  cautiously  out  of  the  corner  of 
his  eye;  he  walks  on  his  tiptoes;  he  talks  in 
whispers;  he  simply  oozes  mystery.  Fat  head? 
—  why,  Lige  Stone  wears  his  hat  on  a  can  of 
lard!" 

"Come,  I'm  not  engaging  a  low  comedian  for 
a  comic  opera. " 

"Oh,  he's  not  so  bad  as  I  said.  He's  really  got 
a  reputation.  He's  just  the  kind  of  a  detective 
that  an  inexperienced  girl  might  pick  up. 
Blake  will  soon  find  out  you've  hired  him,  he'll 
believe  it  a  bona  fide  arrangement  on  your 
part,  and  will  have  a  lot  of  quiet  laughs  at  your 
simplicity.  God  made  Lige  especially  for  you. " 

"All  right.     I'll  see  him  to-morrow." 

"Have  you  thought  about  the  other  de- 
tective?" 

"Yes.  One  reason  I  went  to  New  York  was 
to  try  to  get  a  particular  person  —  Mr.  Manning, 
with  whom  I've  worked  on  some  cases  for  the 
Municipal  League.  He  has  six  children,  and 
is  very  much  in  love  with  his  wife.  The  last 
thing  he  looks  like  is  a  detective.  He  might 
pass  for  a  superintendent  of  a  store,  or  a  broker. 
But  he's  very,  very  competent  and  clever,  and 
is  always  master  of  himself. " 


THE  DESERTER  201 

"And  you  got  him?" 

"  Yes.  But  he  can't  come  for  a  couple  of  weeks. 
He  is  finishing  up  a  case  for  the  Municipal 
League." 

"How  are  you  going  to  use  him?" 

"I  don't  just  know  yet.  Perhaps  I  can  fit 
him  into  a  second  scheme  of  mine.  You've 
heard  of  Mr.  Seymour,  of  Seymour  &  Burnett?" 

"The  big  bankers  and  brokers?" 

"Yes.  I  knew  Elinor  Seymour  at  Vassar, 
and  I  visited  her  several  times;  and  as  Mr. 
Seymour  is  president  of  the  Municipal  League, 
altogether  I  saw  him  quite  a  great  deal.  I 
don't  mean  to  be  conceited,  but  I  really  believe 
Mr.  Seymour  has  a  lot  of  confidence  in  me." 

"That's  a  fine  compliment  to  his  sense," 
Old  Hosie  put  in. 

"He's  about  the  most  decent  of  the  big 
capitalists,"  she  went  on.  "He  was  my  second 
reason  for  going  to  New  York.  When  I  got 
there  he  had  just  left  to  spend  a  week-end  in 
Paris,  or  something  of  the  sort.  I  had  to  wait 
till  he  came  back;  that's  why  I  was  gone  so  long. 
I  went  to  him  with  a  plain  business  proposition. 
I  gave  him  a  hint  of  the  situation  out  here,  told 
him  there  was  a  chance  the  water-works  might 
be  sold,  and  asked  authority  to  buy  the  system 
in  for  him. " 

"And  how  did  he  take  it?"  Old  Hosie  asked 
eagerly. 


202  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"You  behold  in  me  an  accredited  agent  of 
Seymour  &  Burnett.  I  don't  know  yet  how  I 
shall  use  that  authority,  but  if  I  can't  do  any- 
thing better,  and  if  the  worst  comes  to  the  very 
worst,  I'll  buy  in  the  plant,  defeat  Mr.  Blake, 
and  see  that  the  city  gets  something  like  a  fair 
price  for  its  property. " 

Old  Hosie  stared  at  her  in  open  admiration. 
"  Well,  if  you  don't  beat  the  band ! "  he  exclaimed. 

"In  the  meantime,  I  shall  busy  myself  with 
trying  to  get  my  father's  case  appealed.  But  that 
is  really  only  a  blind;  behind  that  I  shall  every 
minute  be  watching  Mr.  Blake.  Now,  what  do 
you  think  of  my  plans  ?  You  know  I  called  you 
in  for  your  advice. " 

"Advice!  You  need  advice  about  as  much  as 
an  angel  needs  a  hat  pin!" 

"But  I'm  willing  to  change  my  plans  if  you 
have  any  suggestions." 

"I  was  a  conceited  old  idiot  when  I  was  a 
little  sore  awhile  ago  because  you  had  called 
me  in  for  my  opinion  after  you  had  settled 
everything.  Go  right  ahead.  It's  fine.  Fine, 
I  tell  you!"  He  chuckled.  "And  to  think  that 
Harrison  Blake  thinks  he's  bucking  up  against 
only  a  woman.  Just  a  simple,  inexperienced, 
dear,  bustling,  blundering  woman!  What  a 
jar  he's  got  coming  to  him!" 

"We  mustn't  be  too  hopeful,"  warned  Kath- 
erine.  "There's  a  long,  hard  fight  ahead. 


THE  DESERTER  203 

Perhaps  my  plan  may  not  work  out.  And 
remember  that,  after  all,  I  am  only  a  woman. " 

"But  if  you  do  win!"  His  old  eyes  glowed 
excitedly.  "Your  father  cleared,  the  idol  of 
the  town  upset,  the  water-works  saved  —  think 
what  a  noise  all  that  will  make!" 

A  new  thought  slowly  dawned  into  his  face. 
"H'm —  this  old  town  hasn't  been,  well,  ex- 
actly hospitable  to  you;  has  laughed  at  you  — 
sneered  at  you  —  given  you  the  cold  shoulder. " 

"Has  it?     What  do  I  care!" 

"It  would  be  sort  of  nice,  now  wouldn't  it," 
he  continued  slowly,  keenly,  with  his  subdued 
excitement,  "sort  of  heaping  coals  of  fire  on 
Westville's  roofs,  if  the  town,  after  having  cut 
you  dead,  should  find  that  it  had  been  saved 
by  you.  I  suppose  you've  never  thought  of  that 
aspect  of  the  case  —  eh?  I  suppose  it  has 
never  occurred  to  you  that  in  saving  your 
father  you'll  also  save  the  town?" 

She  flushed  —  and  smiled  a  little. 

"Oh,  so  we've  already  thought  of  that,  have 
we.  I  see  I  can't  suggest  anything  new  to  you. 
Let  the  old  town  jeer  all  it  wants  to  now,  we'll 
show  'em  in  the  end !  —  is  that  it  ? " 

She  smiled  again,  but  did  not  answer  him. 

"Now  you'll  excuse  me,  won't  you,  for  I 
promised  to  call  on  father  this  afternoon?" 

"  Certainly. "  He  rose.  "  How  is  your  father 
—  or  haven't  you  seen  him  yet?" 


204  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I  called  at  the  jail  first  thing  this  morning. 
He's  very  cheerful." 

"That's  good.     Well,  good-by. " 

Old  Hosie  was  reaching  for  his  hat,  but  just 
then  a  firm  step  sounded  on  the  porch  and  there 
was  a  ring  of  the  bell.  Katherine  crossed  the 
parlour  and  swung  open  the  screen.  Standing 
without  the  door  was  Bruce,  a  challenging, 
defiant  look  upon  his  face. 

"Why,  Mr.  Bruce,"  she  exclaimed,  smiling 
pleasantly.  "Won't  you  please  come  in?" 

"Thank  you,"  he  said  shortly. 

He  bowed  and  entered,  but  stopped  short 
at  sight  of  his  uncle. 

"Hello!    You  here?" 

"Just  to  give  an  off-hand  opinion,  I  should 
say  I  am."  Old  Hosie  smiled  sweetly,  put  his 
hat  back  upon  the  piano  and  sank  into  his 
chair.  "I  just  dropped  in  to  tell  Miss  Kather- 
ine some  of  those  very  clever  and  cutting  things 
you've  said  to  me  about  the  idea  of  a  woman 
being  a  lawyer.  I've  been  expostulating  with  her 
—  trying  to  show  her  the  error  of  her  ways — try- 
ing to  prove  to  her  that  she  wasn't  really  clever 
and  didn't  have  the  first  qualification  for  law." 

"You  please  let  me  speak  for  myself!"  re- 
torted Bruce.  "How  long  are  you  going  to 
stay  here?" 

Old  Hosie  recrossed  his  long  legs  and  settled 
back  with  the  air  of  the  rock  of  ages. 


THE  DESERTER  205 

"Why,  I  was  expecting  Miss  Katherine  was 
going  to  invite  me  to  stay  to  supper. " 

"Well,  I  guess  you  won't.  You  please  re- 
member this  is  your  month  to  look  after  Jim. 
Now  you  trot  along  home  and  see  that  he  don't 
fry  the  steak  to  a  shingle  the  way  you  let  him 
do  it  last  night. " 

"Last  night  I  was  reading  your  editorial  on 
the  prospects  of  the  corn  crop  and  I  got  so 
worked  up  as  to  how  it  was  coming  out  that  I 
forgot  all  about  that  wooden-headed  nigger. 
I  tell  you,  Arn,  that  editorial  was  one  of 
the  most  exciting,  stirring,  nerve-racking,  hair- 
breadth   " 

"Come,  get  along  with  you!"  Bruce  inter- 
rupted impatiently.  "I  want  to  talk  some 
business  with  Miss  West!" 

Old  Hosie  rose. 

"You  see  how  he  treats  me,"  he  said  plain- 
tively to  Katherine.  "I  haven't  had  one  kind 
word  from  that  young  pup  since,  when  he  was 
in  high-school,  he  got  so  stuck  on  himself 
because  he  imagined  every  girl  in  town  was  in 
love  with  him." 

Bruce  took  Old  Hosie's  silk  hat  from  the  piano 
and  held  it  out  to  him. 

"You  certainly  won't  get  a  kind  word  from 
me  to-night  if  that  steak  is  burnt!" 

Katherine  followed  Hosie  out  upon  the  porch. 

"He's  a  great  boy,"  whispered  the  old  man 


206  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

proudly  —  "if  only  I  can  lick  his  infernal  con- 
ceit out  of  him !"  He  gripped  her  hand.  "Good- 
by,  and  luck  with  you!" 

She  watched  the  bent,  spare  figure  down  the 
walk,  then  went  in  to  Bruce.  The  editor  was 
standing  stiffly  in  the  middle  of  the  parlour. 

"I  trust  that  my  call  is  not  inopportune?" 

"Fm  glad  to  see  you,  but  it  does  so  happen 
that  I  promised  father  to  call  at  five  o'clock. 
And  it's  now  twenty  minutes  to. " 

"Perhaps  you  will  allow  me  to  walk  there 
with  you?" 

"But  wouldn't  that  be,  ah  —  a  little  dan- 
gerous?" 

"Dangerous?" 

"Yes.  Perhaps  you  forget  that  Westville 
disapproves  of  me.  It  might  not  be  a  very 
politic  thing  for  a  candidate  for  mayor  to  be 
seen  upon  the  street  with  so  unpopular  a  per- 
son. It  might  cost  votes,  you  know." 

He  flushed. 

"If  the  people  in  this  town  don't  like  what  I 
do,  they  can  vote  for  Harrison  Blake!"  He 
swung  open  the  door.  "If  you  want  to  get 
there  on  time,  we  must  start  at  once." 

Two  minutes  later  they  were  out  in  the  street 
together.  People  whom  they  passed  paused 
and  stared  back  at  them;  groups  of  young 
men  and  women,  courting  collectively  on  front 
lawns,  ceased  their  flirtatious  chaffing  and  their 


THE  DESERTER  207 

bombardments  with  handfuls  of  loose  grass, 
and  nudged  one  another  and  sat  with  eyes 
fixed  on  the  passing  pair;  and  many  a  solid 
burgher,  out  on  his  piazza,  waking  from  his 
devotional  and  digestive  nap,  blinked  his  eyes 
unbelievingly  at  the  sight  of  a  candidate  for 
mayor  walking  along  the  street  with  that 
discredited  lady  lawyer  who  had  fled  the  town 
in  chagrin  after  losing  her  first  case. 

At  the  start  Katherine  kept  the  conversation 
upon  Brace's  candidacy.  He  told  her  that 
matters  were  going  even  better  than  he  had 
hoped;  and  informed  her,  with  an  air  of  triumph 
he  did  not  try  to  conceal,  that  Blind  Charlie 
Peck  had  been  giving  him  an  absolutely  free 
rein,  and  that  he  was  more  than  ever  convinced 
that  he  had  correctly  judged  that  politician's 
motives.  Katherine  meekly  accepted  this  im- 
plicit rebuke  of  her  presumption,  and  congratu- 
lated him  upon  the  vindication  of  his  judg- 
ment. 

"  But  I  came  to  you  to  talk  about  your  affairs, 
not  mine,"  he  said  as  they  turned  into  Main 
Street.  "I  half  thought,  when  you  left,  that 
you  had  gone  for  good.  But  your  coming  back 
proves  you  haven't  given  up.  May  I  ask  what 
your  plans  are,  and  how  they  are  developing?" 

Her  eyes  dropped  to  the  sidewalk,  and  she 
seemed  to  be  embarrassed  for  words.  It  was 
not  wholly  his  fault  that  he  interpreted  her 


208  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

as  crest-fallen,  for  Katherine  was  not  lacking 
in  the  wiles  of  Eve. 

"Your  plans  have  not  been  prospering  very 
well,  then?"  he  asked,  after  a  pause. 

"Oh,  don't  think  that;  I  still  have  hopes," 
she  answered  hurriedly.  "I  am  going  to  keep 
right  on  at  the  case  —  keep  at  it  hard." 

"Were  you  successful  in  what  you  went  to 
New  York  for?" 

"I  can't  tell  yet.  It's  too  early.  But  I 
hope  something  will  come  of  it." 

He  tried  to  get  a  glimpse  of  her  face,  but 
she  kept  it  fixed  upon  the  ground  —  to  hide 
her  discomfiture,  he  thought. 

"Now  listen  to  me,"  he  said  kindly,  with  the 
kindness  of  the  superior  mind.  "Here's  what 
I  came  to  tell  you,  and  I  hope  you  won't  take 
it  amiss.  I  admire  you  for  the  way  you  took 
your  father's  case  when  no  other  lawyer  would 
touch  it.  You  have  done  your  best.  But  now, 
I  judge,  you  are  at  a  standstill.  At  this  par- 
ticular moment  it  is  highly  imperative  that  the 
case  go  forward  with  highest  speed.  You  un- 
derstand me?" 

"I  think  I  do,"  she  said  meekly.  "You 
mean  that  a  man  could  do  much  better  with 
the  case  than  a  woman?" 

"Frankly,  yes  —  still  meaning  no  offense  to 
you.  You  see  how  much  hangs  upon  your 
father's  case  besides  his  own  honour.  There  is 


THE  DESERTER  209 

the  election,  the  whole  future  of  the  city.  You 
see  we  are  really  facing  a  crisis.  We  have  got 
to  have  quick  action.  In  this  crisis,  being  in  the 
dark  as  to  what  you  were  doing,  and  feeling  a 
personal  responsibility  in  the  matter,  I  have 
presumed  to  hint  at  the  outlines  of  the  case  to 
a  lawyer  friend  of  mine  in  Indianapolis;  and  I 
have  engaged  him,  subject  to  your  approval, 
to  take  charge  of  the  matter. " 

"Of  course,"  said  Katherine,  her  eyes  still 
upon  the  sidewalk,  "this  man  lawyer  would 
expect  to  be  the  chief  counsel?" 

"Being  older,   and  more  experienced J: 

"And  being  a  man,"  Katherine  softly  supplied. 

"He  of  course  would  expect  to  have  full 
charge  —  naturally,"  Bruce  concluded. 

"Naturally,"  echoed  Katherine. 

"Of  course  you  would  agree  to  that?" 

"  I  was  just  trying  to  think  what  a  man  would 
do,"  she  said  meditatively,  in  the  same  soft 
tone.  "But  I  suppose  a  man,  after  he  had 
taken  a  case  when  no  one  else  would  take  it, 
when  it  was  hopeless  —  after  he  had  spent 
months  upon  it,  made  himself  unpopular  by 
representing  an  unpopular  cause,  and  finally 
worked  out  a  line  of  defense  that,  when  the 
evidence  is  gained,  will  not  only  clear  his 
client  but  astound  the  city  —  after  he  had 
triumph  and  reputation  almost  within  his  grasp, 
I  suppose  a  man  would  be  quite  willing  to  step 


210  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

down  and  out  and  hand  over  the  glory  to  a 


newcomer." 


He  looked  at  her  sharply.  But  her  face,  or 
what  he  saw  of  it,  showed  no  dissembling. 

"But  you  are  not  stating  the  matter  fairly," 
he  said.  "You  should  consider  the  fact  that 
you  are  at  the  end  of  your  rope!" 

"Yes,  I  suppose  I  should  consider  that," 
she  said  slowly. 

They  were  passing  the  Court  House  now.  He 
tried  to  study  her  face,  but  it  continued  bent 
upon  the  sidewalk,  as  if  in  thought.  They 
reached  the  jail,  and  she  mounted  the  first  step. 

"Well,  what  do  you  say?"  he  asked. 

She  slowly  raised  her  eyes  and  looked  down 
on  him  guilelessly. 

"You've  been  most  thoughtful  and  kind  — 
but  if  it's  just  the  same  to  you,  I'd  like  to  keep 
on  with  the  case  a  little  longer  alone. " 

"What!"  he  ejaculated.  He  stared  at  her. 
"I  don't  know  what  to  make  of  you!"  he  cried 
in  exasperation. 

"Oh,  yes  you  do,"  she  assured  him  sweetly, 
"for  you've  been  trying  to  make  very  little 
of  me." 

"Eh!  See  here,  I  half  believe  you  don't 
want  my  aid!"  he  blurted  out. 

Standing  there  above  him,  smiling  down  upon 
him,  she  could  hardly  resist  telling  him  the 
truth  —  that  sooner  would  she  allow  her  right 


THE  DESERTER  211 

hand  to  be  burnt  off  than  to  accept  aid  from  a 
man  who  had  flaunted  and  jeered  at  her  law- 
yership  —  that  it  was  her  changeless  deter- 
mination not  to  tell  him  one  single  word  about 
her  plans  —  that  it  was  her  purpose  to  go  silently 
ahead  and  let  her  success,  should  she  succeed, 
be  her  reply  to  his  unbelief.  But  she  checked 
the  impulse  to  fling  the  truth  in  his  face  —  and 
instead  continued  to  smile  inscrutably  down 
upon  him. 

"I  hope  that  you  will  do  all  for  my  father, 
for  the  city,  for  your  own  election,  that  you 
can,"  she  said.  "All  I  ask  is  that  for  the 
present  I  be  allowed  to  handle  the  case  by 
myself." 

The  Court  House  tower  tolled  five.  She  held 
out  to  him  a  gloved  hand. 

"Good-by.  I'm  sorry  I  can't  invite  you 
in,"  she  said  lightly,  and  turned  away. 

He  watched  the  slender  figure  go  up  the  steps 
and  into  the  jail,  then  turned  and  walked  down 
the  street  —  exasperated,  puzzled,  in  profound 
thought. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    NIGHT  WATCH 

THE  next  morning  Elijah  Stone  appeared 
in  Katherine's  office  as  per  request. 
He  was  a  thickly,  if  not  solidly,  built 
gentleman,  in  imminent  danger  of  a  double  chin, 
and  with  that  submerged  blackness  of  the 
complexion  which  is  the  result  of  a  fresh-shaven 
heavy  beard.  He  kept  his  jaw  clinched  to 
give  an  appearance  of  power,  and  his  black 
eyebrows  lowered  to  diffuse  a  sense  of  deeply 
pondered  mystery.  His  wife  considered  him  a 
rarely  handsome  specimen  of  his  sex,  and  he 
permitted  art  to  supplement  the  acknowledged 
gifts  of  nature  so  far  as  to  perfume  his  glossy 
black  hair,  to  wear  a  couple  of  large  diamond 
rings,  and  to  carry  upon  the  watch  chain  that 
clanked  heavily  across  the  broad  and  arching 
acreage  of  his  waistcoat  a  begemmed  lodge  em- 
blem in  size  a  trifle  smaller  than  a  paper  weight. 
He  was  an  affable,  if  somewhat  superior, 
being,  and  he  listened  to  Katherine  with  a  still 
further  lowering  of  his  impressive  brows.  She 
informed  him,  in  a  perplexed,  helpless,  womanly 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  213 

way,  that  she  was  inclined  to  believe  that  her 
father  was  "the  victim  of  foul  play" —  the  black 
brows  sank  yet  another  degree  —  and  that  she 
wished  him  privately  to  investigate  the  matter. 
He  of  course  would  know  far,  far  better  what  to 
do  than  she,  but  she  would  suggest  that  he  keep 
an  eye  upon  Blake.  At  first  Mr.  Stone  appeared 
somewhat  sceptical  and  hesitant,  but  after 
peering  darkly  out  for  a  long  and  ruminative 
period  at  the  dusty  foliage  of  the  Court  House 
elms,  and  after  hearing  the  comfortable  fee 
Katherine  was  willing  to  pay,  he  consented  to 
accept  the  case.  As  he  left  he  kindly  assured 
her,  with  manly  pity  for  her  woman's  helpless- 
ness, that  if  there  was  anything  in  her  suspicion 
she  "needn't  waste  no  sleep  now  about  gettin' 
the  goods." 

In  the  days  that  followed,  Katherine  saw  her 
Monsieur  Lecoque  shadowing  the  movements  of 
Blake  with  the  lightness  and  general  unob- 
trusiveness  of  a  mahogany  bedstead  ambling 
about  upon  its  castors.  She  soon  guessed  that 
Blake  perceived  that  he  was  being  watched,  and 
she  imagined  how  he  must  be  smiling  up  his 
sleeve  at  her  simplicity.  Had  the  matters  at 
stake  not  been  so  grave,  had  she  been  more 
certain  of  the  issue,  she  might  have  put  her  own 
sleeve  to  a  similar  purpose. 

In  the  meantime,  as  far  as  she  could  do  so 
without  exciting  suspicion,  she  kept  close  watch 


214  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

upon  Blake.  It  had  occurred  to  her  that  there 
was  a  chance  that  he  had  an  unknown  accomplice 
whose  discovery  would  make  the  gaining  of  the 
rest  of  the  evidence  a  simple  matter.  There 
was  a  chance  that  he  might  let  slip  some  re- 
vealing action.  At  any  rate,  till  Mr.  Manning 
came,  her  role  was  to  watch  with  unsleeping 
eye  for  developments.  Her  office  window  com- 
manded the  entrance  to  Blake's  suite  of  rooms, 
and  no  one  went  up  by  day  whom  she  did  not 
see.  Her  bedroom  commanded  Blake's  house 
and  grounds,  and  every  night  she  sat  at  her 
darkened  window  till  the  small  hours  and  watched 
for  possible  suspicious  visitors,  or  possible 
suspicious  movements  on  the  part  of  Blake. 

Also  she  did  not  forget  Doctor  Sherman. 
On  the  day  of  her  departure  for  New  York, 
she  had  called  upon  Doctor  Sherman,  and  in 
the  privacy  of  his  study  had  charged  him  with 
playing  a  guilty  part  in  Blake's  conspiracy. 
She  had  been  urged  to  this  course  by  the  slender 
chance  that,  when  directly  accused  as  she  had 
dared  not  accuse  him  in  the  court-room,  he 
might  break  down  and  confess.  But  Doctor 
Sherman  had  denied  her  charge  and  had  clung 
to  the  story  he  had  told  upon  the  witness 
stand.  Since  Katherine  had  counted  but  little 
on  this  chance,  she  had  gone  away  but  little 
disappointed. 

But  she  did  not  now  let  up  upon  the  young 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  215 

minister.  Regular  attendance  at  church  had 
of  late  years  not  been  one  of  Katherine's  vir- 
tues, but  after  her  return  it  was  remarked  that 
she  did  not  miss  a  single  service  at  which  Doc- 
tor Sherman  spoke.  She  always  tried  to  sit 
in  the  very  centre  of  his  vision,  seeking  to  keep 
ever  before  his  mind,  while  he  preached  God's 
word,  the  sin  he  had  committed  against  God's 
law  and  man's.  He  visibly  grew  more  pale, 
more  thin,  more  distraught.  The  changes  in- 
spired his  congregation  with  concern;  they 
began  to  talk  of  overwork,  of  the  danger  of  a 
breakdown;  and  seeing  the  dire  possibility  of 
losing  so  popular  and  pew-filling  a  pastor,  they 
began  to  urge  upon  him  the  need  of  a  long 
vacation. 

Katherine  could  not  but  also  give  attention 
to  the  campaign,  since  it  was  daily  growing 
more  sensational,  and  was  completely  engrossing 
the  town.  Blake,  in  his  speeches,  stood  for  a 
continuance  of  the  rule  that  had  made  West- 
ville  so  prosperous,  and  dwelt  especially  upon  an 
improvement  in  the  service  of  the  water-works, 
though  as  to  the  nature  of  the  improvements 
he  confined  himself  to  language  that  was  some- 
what vague.  Katherine  heard  him  often.  He 
was  always  eloquent,  clever,  forceful,  with  a 
manly  grace  of  presence  upon  the  platform  — 
just  what  she,  and  just  what  the  town,  expected 
him  to  be. 


216  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

But  the  surprise  of  the  campaign,  to  Katherine 
and  to  Westville,  was  Arnold  Bruce.  Katherine 
had  known  Bruce  to  be  a  man  of  energy;  now, 
in  her  mind,  a  forceful  if  not  altogether  elegant 
phrase  of  Carlyle  attached  itself  to  him  — 
"A  steam-engine  in  pants."  He  was  never 
clever,  never  polished,  he  never  charmed  with 
the  physical  grace  of  his  opponent,  but  he 
spoke  with  a  power,  an  earnestness,  and  an 
energy  that  were  tremendous.  By  the  main 
strength  of  his  ideas  and  his  personality  he 
seemed  to  bear  down  the  prejudice  against  the 
principle  for  which  he  stood.  He  seemed  to 
stand  out  in  the  mid-current  of  hostile  opinion 
and  by  main  strength  hurl  it  back  into  its  former 
course.  The  man's  efforts  were  nothing  less 
than  herculean.  He  was  a  bigger  man,  a  more 
powerful  man,  than  Westville  had  ever  dreamed; 
and  his  spirited  battle  against  such  apparently 
hopeless  odds  had  a  compelling  fascination. 
Despite  her  defiantly  critical  attitude,  Katherine 
was  profoundly  impressed;  and  she  heard  it 
whispered  about  that,  notwithstanding  Blake's 
great  popularity,  his  party's  certainty  of  suc- 
cess was  becoming  very  much  disturbed. 

Both  Katherine  and  Bruce  were  fond  of  horse- 
back riding  —  Doctor  West's  single  luxury,  his 
saddle  horse,  was  ever  at  Katherine's  disposal  — 
and  at  the  end  of  one  afternoon  they  met 
by  chance  out  along  the  winding  River  Road, 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  217 

with  its  border  of  bowing  willows  and  mottled 
sycamores,  between  whose  browned  foliage 
could  be  glimpsed  long  reaches  of  the  broad  and 
polished  river,  steel-gray  in  the  shadows,  a 
flaming  copper  where  the  low  sun  poured  over  it 
its  parting  fire.  Little  by  little  Bruce  began 
to  talk  of  his  ideals.  Presently  he  was  speak- 
ing with  a  simplicity  and  openness  that  he  had 
not  yet  used  with  Katherine.  She  perceived, 
more  clearly  than  before,  that  whereas  he  was 
dogmatic  in  his  ideas  and  brutally  direct  in 
their  expression,  he  was  a  hot-souled  idealist, 
overflowing  with  a  passionate,  even  desperate, 
love  of  democracy,  which  he  feared  was  in 
danger  of  dying  out  in  the  land  —  quietly 
and  painlessly  suffocated  by  a  narrowing  oli- 
garchy which  sought  to  blind  the  people  to  its  rule 
by  allowing  them  the  exercise  of  democracy's 
dead  forms. 

His  square,  rude  face,  which  she  watched  with 
a  rising  fascination,  was  no  longer  repellent.  It 
had  that  compelling  beauty,  superior  to  mere 
tint  and  moulding  of  the  flesh,  which  is  born  of 
great  and  glowing  ideas.  She  saw  that  there 
was  sweetness  in  his  nature,  that  beneath 
his  rough  exterior  was  a  violent,  all-inclusive 
tenderness. 

Now  and  then  she  put  in  a  word  of  discrimi- 
nating approval,  now  and  then  a  word  of  well- 
reasoned  dissent. 


2i8  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I  believe  you  are  even  more  radical  than  I 
am!"  he  exclaimed,  looking  at  her  keenly. 

"A  woman,  if  she  is  really  radical,  has  got 
to  be  more  radical  than  a  man.  She  sees  all 
the  evils  and  dangers  that  he  sees,  and  in  ad- 
dition she  suffers  from  injustices  and  restrictions 
from  which  man  is  wholly  free. " 

He  was  too  absorbed  in  the  afterglow  of  what 
he  had  been  saying  to  take  in  all  the  meanings 
implicated  in  her  last  phrase. 

"Do  you  know,"  he  said,  as  they  neared 
the  town,  "you  are  the  first  woman  I  have  met 
in  Westville  to  whom  one  could  talk  about  real 
things  and  who  could  talk  back  with  real  sense. " 

A  very  sly  and  pat  remark  upon  his  incon- 
sistency was  at  her  tongue's  tip.  But  she  real- 
ized that  he  had  spoken  impulsively,  unguard- 
edly, and  she  felt  that  it  would  be  little  short 
of  sacrilege  to  be  even  gently  sarcastic  after 
the  exalted  revelation  he  had  made  of  himself. 

"Thank  you,"  she  said  quietly,  and  turned 
her  face  and  smiled  at  the  now  steel-blue  reaches 
of  the  river. 

He  dropped  in  several  evenings  to  see  her. 
When  he  was  in  an  idealistic  mood  she  was 
warmly  responsive.  When  he  was  arbitrary 
and  opinionated,  she  met  him  with  chaffing 
and  raillery,  and  at  such  times  she  was  as  elusive, 
as  baffling,  as  exasperating  as  a  sprite.  On 
occasions  when  he  rather  insistently  asked  her 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  219 

plans  and  her  progress  in  her  father's  case,  she 
evaded  him  and  held  him  at  bay.  She  felt 
that  he  admired  her,  but  with  a  grudging,  un- 
willing admiration  that  left  his  fundamental 
disapproval  of  her  quite  unshaken. 

The  more  she  saw  of  this  dogmatic  dreamer, 
this  erratic  man  of  action,  the  more  she  liked 
him,  the  more  she  found  really  admirable  in 
him.  But  mixed  with  her  admiration  was  an 
alert  and  pugnacious  fear,  so  big  was  he,  so 
powerful,  so  violently  hostile  to  all  the  prin- 
ciples involved  in  her  belief  that  the  whole 
wide  world  of  action  should  in  justice  lie  as 
much  open  to  woman  to  choose  from  as  to  man. 

Without  cessation  Katherine  kept  eyes  and 
mind  on  Blake.  She  searched  out  and  pondered 
over  the  thousand  possible  details  and  rami- 
fications his  conspiracy  might  have.  No  human 
plan  was  a  perfect  plan.  By  patiently  watch- 
ing and  studying  every  point  there  was  a  chance 
that  she  might  discover  one  detail,  one  slip, 
one  oversight,  that  would  give  her  the  key  to 
the  case. 

One  of  the  thousand  possibilities  was  that  he 
had  an  active  partner  in  his  scheme.  Since 
no  such  partner  was  visible  in  the  open,  it  was 
likely  that  his  associate  was  a  man  with  whom 
Blake  wished  to  have  seemingly  no  relations. 
Were  this  conjecture  true,  then  naturally  he 
would  meet  this  confederate  in  secret.  Shs 


220  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

began  to  think  upon  all  possible  means  and 
places  of  holding  secret  conferences.  Such  a 
meeting  might  be  held  there  in  Westville  in  the 
dead  of  night.  It  might  be  held  in  any  large 
city  in  which  individuals  might  lose  themselves 
—  Indianapolis,  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  Chicago. 
It  might  be  held  at  any  appointed  spot  within 
the  radius  of  an  automobile  journey. 

Katherine  analyzed  every  possible  place  of 
this  last  possibility.  She  began  to  watch,  as 
she  watched  other  possibilities,  the  comings 
and  goings  of  the  Blake  automobile.  It  occurred 
to  her  that,  if  anything  were  in  this  conjecture, 
the  meeting  would  be  held  at  night;  and  then, 
a  little  later,  it  occurred  to  her  to  make  a  certain 
regular  observation.  The  Blake  garage  and  the 
West  stable  stood  side  by  side  and  opened  into 
the  same  alley.  Every  evening  while  Blake's 
car  was  being  cleaned  —  if  it  had  been  in  use 
during  the  day  —  Katherine  went  out  to  say 
good  night  to  her  saddle  horse,  and  as  she  was 
on  friendly  terms  with  Blake's  man  she  contrived, 
while  exchanging  a  word  with  him,  to  read  the 
mileage  record  of  the  speedometer.  This  ob- 
servation she  carried  on  with  no  higher  hope  of 
anything  resulting  from  it  than  from  any  of 
a  score  of  other  measures.  It  was  merely  one 
detail  of  her  all-embracing  vigilance. 

Every  night  she  sat  on  watch  —  the  evening's 
earlier  half  usually  in  the  rustic  summer-house 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  221 

in  the  backyard,  the  latter  part  at  her  bedroom 
window.  One  night  after  most  of  Westville 
was  in  bed,  her  long,  patient  vigil  was  rewarded 
by  seeing  the  Blake  automobile  slip  out  with  a 
single  vague  figure  at  the  wheel  and  turn  into 
the  back  streets  of  the  town. 

Hours  passed,  and  still  she  sat  wide-eyed  at 
her  window.  It  was  not  till  raucous  old  muz- 
zains  of  roosters  raised  from  the  watch-towers 
of  their  various  coops  their  concatenated  proph- 
ecy of  the  dawn,  that  she  saw  the  machine 
return  with  its  single  passenger.  The  next 
morning,  as  soon  as  she  saw  Blake's  man  stirring 
about  his  work,  she  slipped  out  to  her  stable. 
Watching  her  chance,  she  got  a  glimpse  of 
Blake's  speedometer.  Then  she  quickly  slipped 
back  to  her  room  and  sat  there  in  excited  thought. 

The  evening  before  the  mileage  had  read 
1437;  this  morning  the  reading  was  1459. 
Blake,  in  his  furtive  midnight  journey,  had 
travelled  twenty-two  miles.  If  he  had  slipped 
forth  to  meet  a  secret  ally,  then  evidently  their 
place  of  meeting  was  half  of  twenty-two  miles 
distant.  Where  was  this  rendezvous? 

Almost  instantly  she  thought  of  The  Syca- 
mores. That  fitted  the  requirements  exactly. 
It  was  eleven  miles  distant  —  Blake  had  a  cabin 
there  —  the  place  was  deserted  at  this  season 
of  the  year.  Nothing  could  be  safer  than  for 
two  men,  coming  in  different  vehicles,  from  dif- 


222  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

ferent  points  perhaps,  to  meet  at  that  retired 
spot  at  such  an  eyeless  hour. 

Perhaps  there  was  no  confederate.  Perhaps 
Blake's  night  trip  was  not  to  a  secret  conference. 
Perhaps  The  Sycamores  was  not  the  rendez- 
vous. But  there  was  a  chance  that  all  three  of 
these  conjectures  were  correct.  And  if  so, 
there  was  a  chance, — aye,  more,  a  probability  — 
that  there  would  be  further  midnight  trysts. 

Bruce  had  fallen  into  the  habit  of  dropping 
in  occasionally  for  a  few  minutes  at  the  end  of 
an  evening's  speaking  to  tell  Katherine  how  mat- 
ters seemed  to  be  progressing.  When  he  called 
that  night  toward  ten  he  was  surprised  to  be 
directed  around  to  the  summer-house.  His 
surprise  was  all  the  more  because  the  three 
months' drought  had  that  afternoon  been  broken, 
and  the  rain  was  now  driving  down  in  gusts  and 
there  was  a  far  rumbling  of  thunder  that 
threatened  a  nearer  and  a  fiercer  cannonading. 

Crouching  beneath  his  umbrella,  he  made  his 
way  through  the  blackness  to  the  summer- 
house,  in  which  he  saw  sitting  a  dim,  solitary 
figure. 

"In  mercy's  name,  what  are  you  doing 
out  here?"  he  demanded  as  he  entered. 

"Watching  the  rain.  I  love  to  be  out  in  a 
storm."  Every  clap  of  thunder  sent  a  shiver 
through  her. 

"You   must   go   right   into   the   house!"   he 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  223 

commanded.  "You'll  get  wet.  I'll  bet  you're 
soaked  already!" 

"Oh,  no.  I  have  a  raincoat  on,"  she  an- 
swered calmly.  "I'm  going  to  stay  and  watch 
the  storm  a  little  longer." 

He  expostulated,  spoke  movingly  of  colds 
and  pneumonia.  But  she  kept  her  seat  and 
sweetly  suggested  that  he  avoid  his  vividly 
pictured  dangers  of  a  premature  death  by 
following  his  own  advice.  He  jerked  a  rustic 
chair  up  beside  her,  growled  a  bit  in  faint  imi- 
tation of  the  thunder,  then  ran  off  into  the 
wonted  subject  of  the  campaign. 

As  the  situation  now  stood  he  had  a  chance  of 
winning,  so  successful  had  been  his  fight  to  turn 
back  public  opinion;  and  if  only  he  had  and  could 
use  the  evidence  Katherine  was  seeking,  an 
overwhelming  victory  would  be  his  beyond  a 
doubt.  He  plainly  was  chafing  at  her  delays, 
and  as  plainly  made  it  evident  that  he  was 
sceptical  of  her  gaming  proof.  But  she  did  not 
let  herself  be  ruffled.  She  evaded  all  his  ques- 
tions, and  when  she  spoke  she  spoke  calmly  and 
with  good-nature. 

Presently,  sounding  dimly  through  a  lull  in 
the  rising  tumult  of  the  night,  they  heard  the 
Court  House  clock  strike  eleven.  Soon  after, 
^Catherine's  ear,  alert  for  a  certain  sound,  caught 
a  muffled  throbbing  that  was  not  distinguishable 
to  Bruce  from  the  other  noises  of  the  storm. 


224  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

She  sprang  up. 

"You  must  go  now  —  good  night!"  she  said 
breathlessly,  and  darted  out  of  the  summer- 
house. 

"Wait!  Where  are  you  going?"  he  cried, 
and  tried  to  seize  her,  but  she  was  gone. 

He  stumbled  amazedly  after  her  vague  figure, 
which  was  running  through  the  grape-arbour 
swiftly  toward  the  stable.  The  blackness,  his 
unfamiliarity  with  the  way,  made  him  half  a 
minute  behind  Katherine  in  entering  the  barn. 

"Miss  West!"  he  called.     "Miss  West!" 

There  was  no  answer  and  no  sound  within 
the  stable.  Just  then  a  flash  of  lightning'showed 
him  that  the  rear  door  was  open.  As  he  felt 
his  way  through  this  he  heard  Katherine  say, 
"Whoa,  Nelly!  Whoa,  Nelly!"  and  saw  her 
swing  into  the  saddle. 

He  sprang  forward  and  caught  the  bridle  rein. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  he  cried. 

"Going  out  for  a  little  gallop,"  she  answered 
with  an  excited  laugh. 

"What?"  A  light  broke  in  upon  him. 
"You've  been  sitting  there  all  evening  in  your 
riding  habit!  Your  horse  has  been  standing 
saddled  and  bridled  in  the  stall!  Tell  me  — 
where  are  you  going?" 

"For  a  little  ride,  I  said.     Now  let  loose  my 


rein.' 


"Why  —  why —  "  he  gasped  in  amazement. 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  225 

Then  he  cried  out  fiercely:  "You  shall  not  go! 
It's  madness  to  go  out  in  a  storm  like  this!" 

"Mr.  Bruce,  let  go  that  rein  this  instant!" 
she  said  peremptorily. 

"I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  sort!  I  shall  not 
let  you  make  an  insane  fool  of  yourself!" 

She  bent  downward.  Though  in  the  darkness 
he  could  not  see  her  face,  the  tensity  of  her  tone 
told  him  her  eyes  were  flashing. 

"Mr.  Bruce,"  she  said  with  slow  emphasis, 
"if  you  do  not  loosen  that  rein,  this  second,  I 
give  you  my  word  I  shall  never  see  you,  never 
speak  to  you  again. " 

"All  right,  but  I  shall  not  let  you  make  a  fool 
of  yourself,"  he  cried  with  fierce  dominance. 
"You've  got  to  yield  to  sense,  even  though  I 
use  force  on  you." 

She  did  not  answer.  Swiftly  she  reversed 
her  riding  crop  and  with  all  her  strength  brought 
its  heavy  end  down  upon  his  wrist. 

"Nelly!"  she  ordered  sharply,  and  in  the  same 
instant  struck  the  horse.  The  animal  lunged 
free  from  Bruce's  benumbed  grasp,  and  sprang 
forward  into  a  gallop. 

"Good  night!"  she  called  back  to  him. 

He  shouted  a  reply;  his  voice  came  to  her 
faintly,  wrathful  and  defiant,  but  his  words 
were  whirled  away  upon  the  storm. 


CHAPTER  XV 

POLITICS   MAKE    STRANGE    BED-FELLOWS 

SHE  quieted  Nelly  into  a  canter,  made 
her  way  through  the  soundly  sleeping 
back  streets,  and  at  length  emerged 
from  the  city  and  descended  into  the  River 
Road,  which  was  slightly  shorter  than  Grayson's 
Pike  which  led  over  the  high  back  country  to 
The  Sycamores.  She  knew  what  Nelly  could 
do,  and  she  settled  the  mare  down  into  the 
fastest  pace  she  could  hold  for  the  eleven  miles 
before  her. 

Katherine  was  aquiver  with  suspense,  one 
moment  with  hopeful  expectation,  the  next  with 
fear  that  her  deductions  were  all  awry.  Perhaps 
Blake  had  not  gone  out  to  meet  a  confederate. 
And  if  he  had,  perhaps  The  Sycamores  was  not 
the  rendezvous.  But  if  her  deductions  were 
correct,  who  was  this  secret  ally?  Would  she 
be  able  to  approach  them  near  enough  to  dis- 
cover his  identity?  And  would  she  be  able  to 
learn  the  exact  outlines  of  the  plot  that  was 
afoot?  If  so,  what  would  it  all  prove  to  be? 

Such  questions  and  doubts  galloped  madly 

226 


STRANGE  BED-FELLOWS  227 

through  her  mind.  The  storm  grew  momently 
in  fierceness.  The  water  and  fury  of  three 
months  of  withheld  storms  were  spending  them- 
selves upon  the  earth  in  one  violent  outburst. 
The  wind  cracked  her  skirt  like  a  whip-lash, 
and  whined  and  snarled  and  roared  among 
the  trees.  The  rain  drove  at  her  in  maddened 
sheets,  found  every  opening  in  her  raincoat, 
and  soon  she  was  as  wet  as  though  dropped  in 
the  river  yonder.  The  night  was  as  black  as 
the  interior  of  a  camera,  save  when  —  as  by  the 
opening  of  a  snapshot  shutter  —  an  instantane- 
ous view  of  the  valley  was  fixed  on  Katherine's 
startled  brain  by  the  lightning  ripping  in  fiery 
fissures  down  the  sky.  Then  she  saw  the  willows 
bending  and  whipping  in  the  wind,  saw  the 
gnarled  old  sycamores  wrestling  with  knotted 
muscles,  saw  the  broad  river  writhing  and  tossing 
its  swollen  and  yellow  waters.  Then,  blackness 
again  —  and,  like  the  closing  click  of  this 
world-wide  camera,  there  followed  a  world- 
shaking  crash  of  thunder. 

Katherine  would  have  been  terrified  but  for 
the  stimulant  within.  She  crouched  low  upon 
her  horse,  held  a  close  rein,  petted  Nelly,  talked 
to  her  and  kept  her  going  at  her  best  —  onward 
—  onward  —  onward  —  through  the  covered 
wooden  bridge  that  spanned  Buck  Creek  — 
through  the  little  old  village  of  Sleepy  Eye  — 
up  Red  Man's  Ridge  —  and  at  last,  battered, 


228  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

buffeted,  half-drowned,  she  and  Nelly  drew  up 
at  the  familiar  stone  gateway  of  The  Sycamores. 

She  dismounted,  led  Nelly  in  and  tied  her 
among  the  beeches  away  from  the  drive.  Then 
cautiously,  palpitantly,  she  groped  her  way  in 
the  direction  of  the  Blake  cabin,  avoiding  the 
open  lest  the  lightning  should  betray  her  pres- 
ence. At  length  she  came  to  the  edge  of  a  cleared 
space  in  which  she  knew  the  cabin  stood.  But 
she  could  see  nothing.  The  cabin  was  just  a 
cube  of  blackness  imbedded  in  this  great  black- 
ness which  was  the  night.  She  peered  intently 
for  a  lighted  window;  she  listened  for  the 
lesser  thunder  of  a  waiting  automobile.  But 
she  could  see  nothing  but  the  dark,  hear  nothing 
but  the  dash  of  the  rain,  the  rumble  of  the  thun- 
der, the  lashing  and  shrieking  of  the  wind. 

Her  heart  sank.  No  one  was  here.  Her 
guesses  all  were  wrong. 

But  she  crept  toward  the  house,  following 
the  drive.  Suddenly,  she  almost  collided 
with  a  big,  low  object.  She  reached  forth  a 
hand.  It  fell  upon  the  tire  of  an  automobile. 
She  peered  forward  and  seemed  to  see  another 
low  shape.  She  went  toward  it  and  felt.  It 
was  a  second  car. 

She  dashed  back  among  the  trees,  and  thus 
sheltered  from  the  revealing  glare  of  the  light- 
ning, almost  choking  with  excitement,  she  began 
to  circle  the  house  for  signs  which  would  locate 


STRANGE  BED-FELLOWS  229 

in  what  room  were  the  men  within.  She  paused 
before  each  side  and  peered  closely  at  it,  but 
each  side  in  turn  presented  only  blackness,  till 
she  came  to  the  lee  of  the  house. 

This,  too,  was  dark  for  the  first  moment. 
Then  in  a  lower  window,  which  she  knew  to  be 
the  window  of  Blake's  den,  two  dull  red  points  of 
light  appeared  —  glowed  —  subsided  —  glowed 
again  —  then  vanished.  A  minute  later  one 
reappeared,  then  the  other;  and  after  the  slow 
rise  and  fall  and  rise  of  the  glow,  once  more 
went  out.  She  stood  rigid,  wondering  at  the 
phenomenon.  Then  suddenly  she  realized  that 
within  were  two  lighted  cigars. 

Bending  low,  she  scurried  across  the  open 
space  and  crouched  beside  the  window.  Luckily 
it  had  been  opened  to  let  some  fresh  air  into  the 
long-closed  room.  And  luckily  this  was  the  lee 
of  the  house  and  the  beat  of  the  storm  sounded 
less  loudly  here,  so  that  their  voices  floated 
dimly  out  to  her.  This  lee  was  also  a  minor 
blessing,  for  Katherine's  poor,  wet,  shivering 
body  now  had  its  first  protection  from  the  storm. 

Tense,  hardly  breathing,  with  all  five  senses 
converged  into  hearing,  she  stood  flattened 
against  the  wall  and  strained  to  catch  their 
every  word.  One  voice  was  plainly  Blake's. 
The  other  had  a  faintly  familiar  quality,  though 
she  could  not  place  it.  This  second  man  had 


23o  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

evidently  come  late,  for  their  conversation  was  of 
a  preliminary,  beating-around-the-bush  char- 
acter —  about  the  fierceness  of  the  storm,  and 
the  additional  security  it  lent  their  meeting. 

Katherine  searched  her  memory  for  the  owner 
of  this  second  voice.  She  had  thought  at  first 
of  Doctor  Sherman,  but  this  voice  had  not  a 
tone  in  common  with  the  young  clergyman's 
clear,  well-modulated  baritone.  This  was  a  pecu- 
liar, bland,  good-natured  drawl.  She  had  not 
heard  it  often,  but  she  had  unmistakably  heard 
it.  As  she  ransacked  her  memory  it  grew  in- 
creasingly familiar,  yet  still  eluded  her.  Then, 
all  of  a  sudden,  she  knew  it,  and  she  stood 
amazed. 

The  second  voice  was  the  voice  of  Blind 
Charlie  Peck. 

Katherine  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
secret  bi-partisan  arrangement  common  in  so 
many  American  cities,  by  which  the  righteous 
voter  is  deluded  into  believing  that  there  are  two 
parties  contending  for  the  privilege  of  giving 
him  their  best  service,  whereas  in  reality  the 
two  are  one,  secretly  allied  because  as  a  political 
trust  they  can  most  economically  and  profitably 
despoil  the  people.  Her  first  thought  was  that 
these  ancient  enemies,  who  for  ten  years  had 
belaboured  one  another  with  such  a  realistic 
show  of  bitterness  upon  the  political  stage  of 
Westville,  had  all  along  been  friends  and  part- 


STRANGE  BED-FELLOWS  231 

ners  behind  the  scenes.  But  of  this  idea  she 
was  presently  disillusioned. 

"Well,  Mr.  Blake,  let's  get  down  to  business, " 
Blind  Charlie's  voice  floated  out  to  her. 
"You've  had  a  day  to  think  over  my  proposi- 
tion. Now  what  have  you  got  to  say  to 
it?" 

There  was  a  brief  silence.  When  Blake  did 
speak,  Katherine  could  discern  in  his  repressed 
tone  a  keen  aversion  for  his  companion. 

"My  position  is  the  same  as  last  night.  What 
you  say  is  all  guesswork.  There  is  nothing 
in  it." 

Blind  Charlie's  voice  was  soft  —  purringly 
soft. 

"Then  why  didn't  you  ask  me  to  go  to  hell, 
and  stay  at  home  instead  of  coming  out  here?" 

There  was  again  a  short  silence. 

"Come  now,"  the  soft  voice  persuaded, 
"let's  don't  go  over  what  we  did  last  night. 
I  know  I'm  right." 

"I  tell  you  you're  only  guessing,"  Blake 
doggedly  returned.  "You  haven't  a  scrap  of 
proof." 

"I  don't  need  proof,  when  I'm  certain  about 
a  thing,"  gently  returned  the  voice  of  Blind 
Charlie.  "I've  been  in  politics  for  forty-eight 
years  —  ever  since  I  was  nineteen,  when  I 
cast  my  first  vote.  I've  got  sharpened  up  con- 
siderable in  that  time,  and  while  I  haven't 


232  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

been  in  on  much  in  the  last  ten  years,  I  can 
still  smell  a  fat  deal  clean  across  the  state. 
For  the  last  three  months  I've  been  smelling, 
and  smelling  it  keener  every  day,  that  you've 
got  a  rich  game  going." 

"And  so"  —  rather  sarcastically  —  "you  set 
Bruce  on,  to  try  to  run  the  game  down!" 

"Well,  I  would  use  a  little  different  figure 
of  speech,"  returned  Blind  Charlie  smoothly. 
"When  I've  got  a  coon  up  a  hollow  tree  I  build 
a  fire  in  the  hollow  to  bring  him  down.  Bruce 
is  my  fire." 

"And  you  think  your  coon  is  coming  down?" 
"I  rather  think  he    is.  Don't  you?" 
"Well,  I  tell  you  he's  not!     For  there's  no 
coon  up  the  tree!" 

"I  see  I've  got  to  state  the  thing  to  you 
again,"  said  Blind  Charlie  patiently,  and  so 
softly  that  Katherine  had  to  strain  her  ut- 
most to  get  his  words.  "When  I  grew  sure  you 
had  a  big  deal  on  about  the  water-works,  I 
saw  that  the  only  way  to  force  you  to  let  me  in 
was  to  put  you  in  a  fix  where  you  would  either 
have  to  split  up  or  be  in  danger  of  losing  the 
whole  thing.  So  I  nominated  Bruce.  He's 
one  of  the  easiest  I  ever  took  in ;  but,  I  tell  you, 
he  is  certainly  one  hell  of  a  fighter!  That's 
what  I  nominated  him  for.  You  know  as  well 
as  I  do  the  way  he's  swinging  the  voters  round. 
It  beats  anything  I've  ever  seen.  If  he  keeps 


STRANGE  BED-FELLOWS  233 

this  up  till  election,  and  if  I  pull  off  a  couple  of 
good  tricks  I've  got  all  ready,  he'll  be  a  winner, 
sure!  And  now"  —  Blind  Charlie's  purring 
voice  thrust  out  its  claws  —  "either  I  put 
Bruce  in  and  smash  your  deal  till  it's  not  worth 
a  damn,  or  else  you  come  across!" 

"There's  nothing  in  it,  I  tell  you!"  declared 
Blake. 

"There's  no  use  keeping  up  that  pretence," 
continued  Blind  Charlie.  "You've  had  a  day 
to  think  over  my  proposition.  You  know 
perfectly  well  what  your  choice  is  between:  a 
sure  thing  if  you  divide  with  me,  the  risk  of 
nothing  if  you  refuse.  So  let's  waste  no  more 
time.  Come,  which  is  it?" 

There  was  a  long  silence. 

"I  understand,"  commented  Blind  Charlie, 
with  a  soft  sympathy  that  Katherine  knew  was 
meant  to  bite  like  acid.  "It's  hard  for  a  re- 
spectable man  like  you  to  mix  up  with  Charlie 
Peck.  But  political  business  makes  strange 
bed-fellows,  and  unless  you're  willing  to  sleep 
with  almost  anybody  you'd  better  keep  out  of 
this  kind  of  business  altogether.  But  after  all," 
he  added,  "I  guess  it's  better  to  share  a  good 
bed  than  to  have  no  bed  at  all." 

"What  do  you  want?"  Blake  asked  huskily. 

"Only  my  share  of  the  bed, "  blandly  returned 
Blind  Charlie. 

"What's  that,  in  plain  words?" 


234  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Not  much.  Only  half  of  what  you're  going 
to  make." 

Blake  exploded. 

"Damn  you,  Peck,  you're  nothing  but  a 
damned  blackmailer!" 

"All  right,  I  agree  to  that,"  said  Blind 
Charlie.  Then  he  added  in  his  soft  voice: 
"But  if  Pm  a  blackmailer  in  this  affair,  then 
please,  Mr.  Blake,  what  do  you  call  yourself?" 

"You  —  you "  To  the  crouching  figure 

outside  the  window  Blake  seemed  to  be  half- 
choking.  But  suddenly  he  exploded  again. 
"I'll  not  do  it,  Peck!  I'll  not  do  it  —  never 
while  God's  earth  stands!" 

"I  guess  you  will,  Blake!"  Blind  Charlie's 
voice  was  no  longer  soft;  it  had  a  slow,  grating, 
crunching  sound.  "Damn  your  soul,  you've 
been  acting  toward  me  with  your  holier-than- 
thou  reformer's  attitude  for  ten  years.  D'you 
think  I'm  a  man  to  swallow  that  quietly? 
D'you  think  I  haven't  had  it  in  for  you  all  those 
ten  years?  Why,  there  hasn't  been  a  minute 
that  I  haven't  been  looking  for  my  chance.  And 
at  last  I've  got  it!  I've  not  only  got  a  line  on 
this  water-works  business,  but  I've  found  out 
all  about  your  pretty  little  deal  with  Adamson 
during  the  last  months  you  were  Lieutenant- 
Governor!" 

"Adamson!"  ejaculated  Blake. 

"Yes,  Adamson!"  went  on  the  harsh  voice  of 


STRANGE  BED-FELLOWS  235 

Blind  Charlie.  "That  hits  you  where  you  live, 
eh !  You  didn't  know  I  had  it,  did  you  ?  Well, 
I  didn't  till  to-day  —  but  I've  got  it  now  all 
right  I  There,  my  cards  are  all  on  the  table. 
Look  'em  over.  I  don't  want  Bruce  elected 
any  more  than  you  do;  but  either  you  do  what 
I  say,  or  by  God  I  turn  over  to  Bruce  all  I  know 
about  the  Adamson  affair  and  all  I  know  about 
this  water-works  deal!  Now  I  give  you  just 
one  minute  to  decide!" 

Katherine  breathlessly  awaited  the  answer. 
A  space  passed.  She  heard  Blind  Charlie 
stand  up. 

"Time's  up!  Good  night  —  and  to  hell  with 
you!" 

"Wait!     Wait!"     Blake  cried. 

"Then  you  accept?" 

Blake's  voice  shook.  "  Before  I  answer,  what 
do  you  want?" 

"I've  already  told  you.  Half  of  what  you 
get." 

"  But  I'm  to  get  very  little. " 

"Very  little!"  Blind  Charlie's  voice  was 
ironical;  it  had  dropped  its  tone  of  crushing 
menace.  "Very  little!  Now  I  figure  that 
you'll  get  the  water-works  for  a  third,  or  less, 
of  their  value.  That'll  give  you  something 
like  half  a  million  at  the  start-off,  not  to  speak 
of  the  regular  profits  later  on.  Now  as  for  me, " 
he  concluded  drily,  "I  wouldn't  call  that  such 


236  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

a  very  little  sum  that  I'd  kick  it  out  of  my  way 
if  I  saw  it  lying  in  the  road. " 

"But  no  such  sum  is  lying  there." 

"No?    Then  what  do  you  get?" 

Blake  did  not  answer. 

"Come,  speak  out!" 

Blake's  voice  came  with  an  effort. 

"I'm  not  doing  this  for  myself." 

"Then  who  for?" 

Blake  hesitated,  then  again  spoke  with  an 
effort. 

"The  National  Electric  &  Water  Company." 

Blind  Charlie  swore  in  his  surprise. 

"But  I  reckon  you're  not  doing  it  for  them 
for  charity  ?  " 

"No." 

"Well,  what  for?" 

Blake  again  remained  silent. 

"Come,  what  for?"  impatiently  demanded 
Charlie. 

"For  a  seat  in  the  Senate." 

"That's  no  good  to  me.     What  else?" 

"Fifty  thousand  dollars." 

"The  devil!  Is  that  all?"  ejaculated  Blind 
Charlie. 

"Everything." 

Blind  Charlie  swore  to  himself  for  a  moment. 
Then  he  fell  into  a  deep  silence. 

"Well,  what's  the  matter?"  Blake  presently 
inquired. 


STRANGE  BED-FELLOWS  237 

"I  was  just  wondering, "  replied  Blind  Charlie, 
slowly,  "if  it  wouldn't  be  better  to  call  this 
business  off  between  you  and  me." 

"Call  it  off?" 

"Yes.  I  never  imagined  you  were  playing 
for  such  a  little  pile  a*  fifty  thousand.  Since 
there's  only  fifty  thousand  in  it"  —  his  voice 
suddenly  rang  out  with  vindictive  triumph  — 
"I  was  wondering  if  it  wouldn't  pay  me  better 
to  use  what  I  know  to  help  elect  Bruce." 

"Elect  Bruce?"  cried  Blake  in  consternation. 

"Exactly.  Show  you  up,  and  elect  Bruce," 
said  Blind  Charlie  coolly.  "To  elect  my  mayor 
—  there's  more  than  fifty  thousand  for  me  in 
that." 

There  was  a  dismayed  silence  on  Blake's  part. 
But  after  a  moment  he  recovered  himself,  and 
this  time  it  was  his  voice  that  had  the  note  of 
ascendency. 

"You  are  forgetting  one  point,  Mr.  Peck," 
said  he. 

"Yes?" 

"Bruce's  election  will  not  mean  a  cent  to 
you.  You  will  get  no  offices.  Moreover,  the 
control  of  your  party  machinery  will  be  sure  to 
pass  from  you  to  him. " 

"You're  right,"  said  the  old  man  promptly. 
"See  how  quick  I  am  to  acknowledge  the  corn. 
However,  after  all,"  he  added  philosophically, 
"what  you're  getting  is  really  enough  for  two. 


238  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

You  take  the  senatorship,  and  I'll  take  the 
fifty  thousand.  What  do  you  say  to  that?" 

"What  about  Bruce  —  if  I  accept?" 

"Bruce?  Bruce  is  just  a  fire  to  smoke  the 
coon  out.  When  the  coon  comes  down,  I 
put  out  the  fire. " 

"You  mean?" 

"I  mean  that  I'll  see  that  Bruce  don't  get 
elected." 

"You'll  make  sure  about  that?" 

"Oh,  you  just  leave  Bruce  to  me!"  said  Blind 
Charlie  with  grim  confidence.  "And  now,  do 
you  accept?" 

Blake  was  silent.  He  still  shrunk  from  this 
undesirable  alliance.  Outside,  Katherine  again 
breathlessly  hung  upon  his  answer. 

"What  do  you  say?"  demanded  the  old 
man  sharply.  "Do  you  accept?  Or  do  I 
smash  you  ? " 

"  I  accept  —  of  course. " 

"And  we'll  see  this  thing  through  together?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  here  you  are.     Let's  shake  on  it." 

They  talked  on,  dwelling  on  details  of  their 
partnership,  Katherine  missing  never  a  word. 

At  length,  their  agreement  completed,  they 
left  the  room,  and  Katherine  slipped  from  the 
window  across  into  the  trees  and  made  such 
haste  as  she  could  through  the  night  and  the 
storm  to  where  she  had  left  her  horse.  She 


STRANGE  BED-FELLOWS  239 

heard  one  car  go  slowly  out  the  entrance  of 
the  grove,  its  lamps  dark  that  its  visit  might 
not  be  betrayed,  and  she  heard  it  turn  cautiously 
into  the  back-country  road.  After  a  little 
while  she  saw  a  glare  shoot  out  before  the  car  — 
its  lamps  had  been  lighted  —  and  she  saw  it 
skim  rapidly  away.  Soon  the  second  car  crept 
out,  took  the  high  back-country  pike,  and  re- 
peated the  same  tactics. 

Then  Katherine  untied  Nelly,  mounted,  and 
started  slowly  homeward  along  the  River  Road. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THROUGH    THE    STORM 

BOWED  low  to  shield  herself  against  the 
ever  fiercer  buffets  of  the  storm,  Kath- 
erine  gave  Nelly  free  rein  to  pick 
her  own  way  at  her  own  pace  through  the 
blackness.  The  rain  volleyed  into  her  piti- 
lessly, the  wind  sought  furiously  to  wrest  her 
from  the  saddle,  the  lightning  cracked  open 
the  heavens  into  ever  more  fiery  chasms,  and 
the  thunder  rattled  and  rolled  and  rever- 
berated as  though  a  thousand  battles  were 
waging  in  the  valley.  It  was  as  if  the  earth's 
dissolution  were  at  hand  —  as  if  the  long- 
gathered  wrath  of  the  Judgment  Day  were 
rending  the  earth  asunder  and  hurling  the  frag- 
ments afar  into  the  black  abysm  of  eternity. 

But  Katherine,  though  gasping  and  shiver- 
ing, gave  minor  heed  to  this  elemental  rage. 
Whatever  terror  she  might  have  felt  another 
time  at  such  a  storm,  her  brain  had  now  small 
room  for  it.  She  was  exultantly  filled  with  the 
magnitude  of  her  discovery.  The  water-works 
deal!  The  National  Electric  &  Water  Company! 

240 


THROUGH  THE  STORM  241 

Bruce  not  a  bona  fide  candidate  at  all,  but 
only  a  pistol  at  Blake's  head  to  make  him  stand 
and  deliver!  Blake  and  Blind  Charlie  —  those 
two  whole-hearted  haters,  who  belaboured  each 
other  so  valiantly  before  the  public  —  in  a  secret 
pact  to  rob  that  same  dear  public! 

At  the  highest  moments  of  her  exultation 
it  seemed  that  victory  was  already  hers;  that 
all  that  remained  was  to  proclaim  to  Westville 
on  the  morrow  what  she  knew.  But  beneath 
all  her  exultation  was  a  dim  realization  that 
the  victory  itself  was  yet  to  be  won.  What 
she  had  gained  was  only  a  fuller  knowledge  of 
who  her  enemies  were,  and  what  were  their 
purposes. 

Her  mind  raced  about  her  discovery,  seeking 
how  to  use  it  as  the  basis  of  her  own  campaign. 
But  the  moment  of  an  extensive  and  astounding 
discovery  is  not  the  moment  for  the  evolving 
of  well-calculated  plans;  so  the  energies  of  her 
mind  were  spent  on  extravagant  dreams  or  the 
leaping  play  of  her  jubilation. 

One  decision,  however,  she  did  reach.  That 
was  concerning  Bruce.  Her  first  impulse  was 
to  go  to  him  and  tell  him  all,  in  triumphant 
refutation  of  his  ideas  concerning  woman  in 
general,  and  her  futility  in  particular.  But 
as  she  realized  that  she  was  not  at  the  end  of 
her  fight,  but  only  at  a  better-informed  begin- 
ning, she  saw  that  the  day  of  her  triumph  over 


242  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

him,  if  ever  it  was  to  come,  had  at  least  not  yet 
arrived.  As  for  admitting  him  into  her  full 
confidence,  her  woman's  pride  was  still  too 
strong  for  that.  It  held  her  to  her  deter- 
mination to  tell  him  nothing.  She  was  going 
to  see  this  thing  through  without  him. 

Moreover,  she  had  another  reason  for  silence. 
She  feared,  if  she  told  him  all,  his  impetuous 
nature  might  prompt  him  to  make  a  premature 
disclosure  of  the  information,  and  that  would 
be  disastrous  to  her  future  plans.  But  since  he 
was  vitally  concerned  in  Blake's  and  Peck's 
agreement,  it  was  at  least  his  due  that  he  be 
warned;  and  so  she  decided  to  tell  him,  without 
giving  her  source  of  information,  that  Blind 
Charlie  proposed  to  sell  him  out. 

Nelly's  pace  had  slowed  into  a  walk,  and 
even  then  the  gale  at  times  almost  swept  the 
poor  horse  staggering  from  the  road.  The 
rain  drove  down  in  ever  denser  sheets.  The 
occasional  flashes  of  lightning  served  only  to 
emphasize  the  blackness.  So  dense  was  it,  it 
seemed  a  solid.  The  world  could  not  seem 
blacker  to  a  toad  in  the  heart  of  a  stone.  The 
instants  of  crackling  fire  showed  Katherine 
the  river,  below  her  in  the  valley,  leaping, 
surging,  almost  out  of  its  banks  —  the  trees, 
writhing  and  wrestling,  here  and  there  one 
jaggedly  discrowned.  And  once,  as  she  was 
crossing  a  little  wooden  bridge  that  spanned  a 


THROUGH  THE  STORM  243 

creek,  she  saw  that  it  was  almost  afloat  —  and 
for  an  instant  of  terror  she  wished  she  had 
followed  the  higher  back-country  road  taken  by 
the  two  automobiles. 

She  had  reached  the  foot  of  Red  Man's 
Ridge,  and  was  winding  along  the  river's 
verge,  when  she  thought  she  heard  her  name 
sound  faintly  through  the  storm.  She  stopped 
Nelly  and  sat  in  sudden  stiffness,  straining  her 
ears.  Again  the  voice  sounded,  this  time 
nearer,  and  there  was  no  mistaking  her  name. 

"Miss  West!    Katherine!" 

She  sat  rigid,  almost  choking.  The  next 
minute  a  shapeless  figure  almost  collided  with 
Nelly.  It  eagerly  caught  the  bridle-rein  and 
called  out  huskily: 

"Is  that  you,  Miss  West?" 

She  let  out  a  startled  cry. 

"Who  are  you?     What  do  you  want?" 

"It's  you!  Thank  God,  I've  found  you!" 
cried  the  voice. 

"Arnold  Bruce!"  she  ejaculated. 

He  loosened  the  rein  and  moved  to  her  side 
and  put  his  hand  upon  the  back  of  her  saddle. 

"Thank  God  I've  found  you!"  he  repeated, 
with  a  strange  quaver  to  his  voice. 

"Arnold  Bruce!     What  are  you  doing  here?" 

"Didn't  you  hear  me  shout  after  you,  when 
you  started,  that  I  was  coming,  too?" 

"I  heard  your  voice,  but  not  what  you  said." 


244  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Do  you  think  I  would  let  you  go  out  alone 
on  a  night  like  this?"  he  demanded  in  his 
unstrung  tone.  "It's  no  night  for  a  man  to 
be  out,  much  less  a  woman!" 

"You   mean  —  you   followed   me?" 

"What  else  did  you  think  I'd  do?" 

"And  on  foot?" 

"If  I  had  stopped  to  get  a  horse  I'd  have 
lost  your  direction.  So  I  ran  after  you." 

They  were  moving  on  now,  his  hand  upon 
the  back  of  her  saddle  to  link  them  together  in 
the  darkness.  He  had  to  lean  close  to  her  that 
their  voices  might  be  heard  above  the  storm. 

"And  you  have  run  after  me  all  this  way?" 

"Ran  and  walked.  But  I  couldn't  make 
much  headway  in  the  storm  —  Calling  out  to 
you  every  few  steps.  I  didn't  know  what 
might  have  happened  to  you.  All  kinds  of 
pictures  were  in  my  mind.  You  might  have 
been  thrown  and  be  lying  hurt.  In  the  dark- 
ness the  horse  might  have  wandered  off  the 
road  and  slipped  with  you  into  the  river.  It 

was  —  it  was "  She  felt  the  strong  forearm 

that  lay  against  her  back  quiver  violently. 
"Oh,  why  did  you  do  it!"  he  burst  out. 

A  strange,  warm  tingling  crept  through  her. 

"I  —  I "  Something  seemed  to  choke 

her. 

"Oh,  why  did  you  do  it!"  he  repeated. 

Contrary    to    her    determination    of    but    a 


THROUGH  THE  STORM  245 

little  while  ago,  an  impulse  surged  up  in  her  to 
tell  him  all  she  had  just  learned,  to  tell  him  all 
her  plans.  She  hung  for  a  moment  in  indeci- 
sion. Then  her  old  attitude,  her  old  deter- 
mination, resumed  its  sway. 

"I  had  a  suspicion  that  I  might  learn  some- 
thing about  father's  case,"  she  said. 

"It  was  foolishness!"  he  cried  in  fierce  reproof, 
yet  with  the  same  unnerved  quaver  in  his 
voice.  "You  should  have  known  you  could 
find  nothing  on  such  a  night  as  this!" 

She  felt  half  an  impluse  to  retort  sharply 
with  the  truth.  But  the  thought  of  his  stum- 
bling all  that  way  in  the  blackness  subdued  her 
rising  impulse  to  triumph  over  him.  So  she 
made  no  reply  at  all. 

"You  should  never  have  come!  If,  when 
you  started,  you  had  stopped  long  enough  for 
me  to  speak  to  you,  I  could  have  told  you  you 
would  not  have  found  out  anything.  You  did 
not,  now  did  you?" 

She  still  kept  silent. 

"I  knew  you  did  not!"  he  cried  in  exas- 
perated triumph.  "Admit  the  truth  —  you 
know  you  did  not!" 

"I  did  not  learn  everything  I  had  hoped." 

"Don't  be  afraid  to  acknowledge  the  truth!" 

"You  remember  what  I  said  when  you  were 
first  offered  the  nomination  by  Mr.  Peck  — 
to  beware  of  him?" 


246  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Yes.  You  were  wrong.  But  let's  not  talk 
about  that  now!" 

"I  am  certain  now  that  I  was  right.  I  have 
the  best  of  reasons  for  believing  that  Mr.  Peck 
intends  to  sell  you  out." 

"What   reasons?" 

She  hesitated  a  moment. 

"  I  cannot  give  them  to  you  —  now.  But 
I  tell  you  I  am  certain  he  is  planning  treachery." 

"Your  talk  is  wild.  As  wild  as  your  ride 
out  here  to-night." 

"But  I  tell  you " 

"Let's  talk  no  more  about  it  now,"  he  inter- 
rupted, brushing  the  matter  aside.  "It  —  it 
doesn't  interest  me  now." 

There  was  a  blinding  glare  of  lightning,  then 
an  awful  clap  of  thunder  that  rattled  in  wild 
echoes  down  the  valley. 

"Oh,  why  did  you  come?"  he  cried,  pressing 
closer.  "Why  did  you  come?  It's  enough  to 
kill  a  woman!' 

"Hardly,"  said  she. 

"But  you're  wet  through,"  he  protested. 

"And  so  are  you." 

"Have  my  coat."   And  he  started  to  slip  it  off. 

"No.  One  more  wet  garment  won't  make 
me  any  drier." 

"Then  put  it  over  your  head.  To  keep  off 
this  awful  beat  of  the  storm.  I'll  lead  your 
horse." 


THROUGH  THE  STORM  247 

"No,  thank  you;  I'm  all  right,"  she  said 
firmly,  putting  out  a  hand  and  checking  his 
motion  to  uncoat  himself.  "You've  been 
walking.  I've  been  riding.  You  need  it  more 
than  I  do."  And  then  she  added:  "Did  I 
hurt  you  much?" 

"Hurt  me?" 

"When  I  struck  you  with  my  crop." 

"That?     I'd  forgotten  that." 

"I'm  very  sorry  —  if  I  hurt  you." 

"It's  nothing.  I  wish  you'd  take  my  coat. 
Bend  lower  down."  And  moving  forward,  he 
so  placed  himself  that  his  broad,  strong  body 
was  a  partial  shield  to  her  against  the  gale. 

This  new  concern  for  her,  the  like  of  which 
he  had  never  before  evinced  the  faintest  symp- 
toms, begot  in  her  a  strange,  tingling,  but 
blurred  emotion.  They  moved  on  side  by  side, 
now  without  speech,  gasping  for  the  very 
breath  that  the  gale  sought  to  tear  away  from 
their  lips.  The  storm  was  momently  gaining 
power  and  fury.  Afterward  the  ancient 
weather-men  of  Galloway  County  were  to  say 
that  in  their  time  they  had  never  seen  its  like. 
The  lightning  split  the  sky  into  even  more 
fearsome  fiery  chasms,  and  in  the  moments  of 
wild  illumination  they  could  see  the  road  gullied 
by  scores  of  impromptu  rivulets,  could  glimpse 
the  broad  river  billowing  and  raging,  the  cattle 
huddling  terrified  in  the  pastures,  the  woods 


248  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

swaying  and  writhing  in  deathlike  grapple. 
The  wind  hurled  by  them  in  a  thousand  moods 
and  tones,  all  angry;  a  fine,  high  shrieking  on 
its  topmost  note  —  a  hoarse  snarl  —  a  lull, 
as  though  the  straining  monster  were  pausing 
to  catch  its  breath  —  then  a  roaring,  sweeping 
onrush  as  if  bent  on  irresistible  destruction.  And 
on  top  of  this  glare,  this  rage,  was  the  thousand- 
fold crackle,  rattle,  rumble  of  the  thunder. 

At  such  a  time  wild  beasts,  with  hostility 
born  in  their  blood,  draw  close  together.  It 
was  a  storm  to  resolve,  as  it  were,  all  complex 
shades  of  human  feeling  into  their  elementary 
colours  —  when  fear  and  hate  and  love  stand 
starkly  forth,  unqualified,  unblended.  Without 
being  aware  that  she  was  observing,  Katherine 
sensed  that  Bruce's  agitation  was  mounting 
with  the  storm.  And  as  she  felt  his  quivering 
presence  beside  her  in  the  furious  darkness, 
her  own  emotion  surged  up  with  a  wild  and 
startling  strength. 

A  tree  top  snapped  off  just  before  them  with 
its  toy  thunder. 

"Will  this  never  stop!"  gasped  Bruce, 
huskily.  "God,  I  wish  I  had  you  safe  home!" 

The  tremulous  tensity  in  his  voice  set  her 
heart  to  leaping  with  an  unrestraint  yet  wilder. 
But  she  did  not  answer. 

Suddenly  Nelly  stumbled  in  a  gully  and 
JCatherine  pitched  forward  from  the  saddle. 


THROUGH  THE  STORM  249 

She  would  have  fallen,  had  not  a  pair  of  strong 
arms  closed  about  her  in  mid-air. 

"Katherine —  Katherinel"  Bruce  cried,  dis- 
tracted. Nelly  righted  herself  and  Katherine 
regained  her  seat,  but  Bruce  still  kept  his  arm 
about  her.  "Tell  me  —  are  you  hurt?"  he 
demanded. 

She  felt  the  arms  around  her  trembling  with 
intensity. 

"No,"  she  said  with  a  strange  choking. 

"Oh,  Katherine  —  Katherine!"  he  burst  out. 
"If  you  only  knew  how  I  love  you!" 

What  she  felt  could  not  crystallize  itself  into 
words. 

"Do  you  love  me?"  he  asked  huskily. 

Just  then  there  was  a  flash  of  lightning. 
It  showed  her  his  upturned  face,  appealing, 
tender,  passion-wrought.  A  wild,  exultant 
thrill  swept  through  her.  Without  thinking, 
without  speaking,  her  tingling  arm  reached  out, 
of  its  own  volition  as  it  were,  and  closed  about 
his  neck,  and  she  bent  down  and  kissed  him. 

"Katherine!"  he  breathed  hoarsely.  "Kath- 
erine ! "  And  he  crushed  her  convulsively  to  him. 

She  lay  thrilled  in  his  arms.  .  .  .  After 
a  minute  they  moved  on,  his  arm  about  her 
waist,  her  arm  about  his  neck.  Rain,  wind, 
thunder  were  forgotten.  Forgotten  were  their 
theories  of  life.  For  that  hour  the  man  and 
woman  in  them  were  supremely  happy. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    CUP    OF    BLISS 

THE  next  morning  Katherine  lay  abed 
in  that  delicious  lassitude  which  is 
the  compound  of  complete  exhaustion 
and  of  a  happiness  that  tingles  through  every 
furthermost  nerve.  And  as  she  lay  there  she 
thought  dazedly  of  the  miracle  that  had  come 
to  pass.  She  had  not  even  guessed  that  she 
was  in  love  with  Arnold  Bruce.  In  fact,  she 
had  been  resisting  her  growing  admiration  for 
him,  and  the  day  before  she  could  hardly  have 
told  whether  her  liking  was  greater  than  her 
hostility.  Then,  suddenly,  out  there  in  the 
storm,  all  complex  counter-feelings  had  been 
swept  side,  and  she  had  been  revealed  to  herself. 
She  was  tremulously,  tumultuously  happy. 
She  had  had  likings  for  men  before,  but  she 
had  never  guessed  that  love  was  such  a  mighty, 
exultant  thing  as  this.  But,  as  she  lay  there, 
the  thoughts  that  had  never  come  to  her  in 
the  storm  out  there  on  the  River  Road,  slipped 
into  her  mind.  Into  her  exultant,  fearful, 
dizzy  happiness  there  crept  a  fear  of  the 

250 


THE  CUP  OF  BLISS  251 

future.  She  clung  with  all  her  soul  to  the  ideas 
of  the  life  she  wished  to  live;  she  knew  that 
he,  in  all  sincerity,  was  militantly  opposed  to 
those  ideas.  Difference  in  religious  belief  had 
brought  bitterness,  tragedy  even,  into  the  lives 
of  many  a  pair  of  lovers.  The  difference  in 
their  case  was  no  less  firmly  held  to  on  either 
side,  and  she  realized  that  the  day  must  come 
when  their  ideas  must  clash,  when  they  two 
must  fight  it  out.  Quivering  with  love  though 
she  was,  she  could  but  look  forward  to  that 
inevitable  day  with  fear. 

But  there  were  too  many  other  new  matters 
tossing  in  her  brain  for  her  to  dwell  long  upon 
this  dread.  At  times  she  could  but  smile 
whimsically  at  the  perversity  of  love.  The 
little  god  was  doubtless  laughing  in  impish 
glee  at  what  he  had  brought  about.  She  had 
always  thought  in  a  vague  way  that  she  would 
sometime  marry,  but  she  had  always  regarded 
it  as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  man  she  would 
fall  in  love  with  would  be  one  in  thorough 
sympathy  with  her  ideas  and  who  would  help 
her  realize  her  dream.  And  here  she  had  fallen 
in  love  with  that  dreamed-of  man's  exact 
antithesis ! 

And  yet,  as  she  thought  of  Arnold  Bruce, 
she  could  not  imagine  herself  loving  any  other 
man  in  all  the  world. 
Love  gave  her  a  new  cause  for  jubilation  over 


252  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

her  last  night's  discovery.  Victory,  should 
she  win  it,  and  win  it  before  election,  had  now 
an  added  value  —  it  would  help  the  man  she 
loved.  But  as  she  thought  over  her  discovery, 
she  realized  that  while  she  might  create  a 
scandal  with  it,  it  was  not  sufficient  evidence 
nor  the  particular  evidence  that  she  desired. 
Blake  and  Peck  would  both  deny  the  meeting, 
and  against  Blake's  denial  her  word  would 
count  for  nothing,  either  in  court  or  before  the 
people  of  Westville.  And  she  could  not  be 
present  at  another  conference  with  two  or  three 
witnesses,  for  the  pair  had  last  night  settled  all 
matters  and  had  agreed  that  it  would  be  unneces- 
sary to  meet  again.  Her  discovery,  she  perceived 
more  clearly  than  on  the  night  before,  was  not 
so  much  evidence  as  the  basis  for  a  more  en- 
lightened and  a  more  hopeful  investigation. 

Another  matter,  one  that  had  concerned  her 
little  while  Bruce  had  held  but  a  dubious  place 
in  her  esteem,  now  flashed  into  her  mind  and 
assumed  a  large  importance.  The  other  party, 
as  she  knew,  was  using  Bruce's  friendship  for 
her  as  a  campaign  argument  against  him;  not 
on  the  platform  of  course  —  it  never  gained 
that  dignity  —  but  in  the  street,  and  wherever 
the  followers  of  the  hostile  camps  engaged  in 
political  skirmish.  Its  sharpest  use  was  by 
good  housewives,  with  whom  suffrage  could  be 
exercised  solely  by  influencing  their  husbands' 


THE  CUP  OF  BLISS  253 

ballots."'  "What,  vote  for  Mr.  Bruce!  Don't 
you  know  he's  a  friend  of  that  woman  lawyer? 
A  man  who  can  see  anything  in  that  Katherine 
West  is  no  fit  man  for  mayor!" 

All  this  talk,  Katherine  now  realized,  was  in 
some  degree  injuring  Bruce's  candidacy.  With 
a  sudden  pain  at  the  heart  she  now  demanded 
of  herself,  would  it  be  fair  to  the  man  she  loved 
to  continue  this  open  intimacy?  Should  not 
she,  for  his  best  interests,  urge  him,  require  him, 
to  see  her  no  more? 

She  was  in  the  midst  of  this  new  problem, 
when  her  Aunt  Rachel  brought  her  in  a  tele- 
gram. She  read  it  through,  and  on  the  instant 
the  problem  fled  her  mind.  She  lay  and 
thought  excitedly  —  hour  after  hour  —  and  her 
old  plans  altered  where  they  had  been  fixed, 
and  took  on  definite  form  where  previously 
they  had  been  unsettled. 

The  early  afternoon  found  her  in  the  office 
of  old  Hosie  Hollingsworth. 

"What  do  you  think  of  that?"  she  demanded, 
handing  him  the  telegram. 

Old  Hosie  read  it  with  a  puzzled  look.  Then 
slowly  he  repeated  it  aloud: 

'"Bouncing  boy  arrived  Tuesday  morning. 
All  doing  well.  John. ' :  He  raised  his  eyes 
to  Katherine.  "I'm  always  glad  to  see  people 
lend  the  census  a  helping  hand,"  he  drawled. 
"But  who  in  Old  Harry  is  John?" 


254  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"  Mr.  Henry  Manning.  The  New  York  detec- 
tive I  told  you  about." 

"Eh?     Then  what " 

"It's  a  cipher  telegram,"  Katherine  ex- 
plained with  an  excited  smile.  "It  means 
that  he  will  arrive  in  Westville  this  afternoon, 
and  will  stay  as  long  as  I  need  him." 

"But  what  should  he  send  that  sort  of  a  fool 
thing  for?" 

"Didn't  I  tell  you  that  he  and  I  are  to  have 
no  apparent  relations  whatever?  An  ordinary 
telegram,  coming  through  that  gossiping  Mr. 
Gordon  at  the  telegraph  office,  would  have 
given  us  away.  Now  I've  come  to  you  to 
talk  over  with  you  some  new  plans  for  Mr. 
Manning.  But  first  I  want  to  tell  you  some- 
thing else." 

She  briefly  outlined  what  she  had  learned 
the  night  before;  and  then,  without  waiting 
to  hear  out  his  ejaculations,  rapidly  continued: 
"  I  told  Mr.  Manning  to  come  straight  to  you,  on 
his  arrival,  to  learn  how  matters  stood.  All  my 
communications  to  him,  and  his  to  me,  are  to 
be  through  you.  Tell  him  everything,  including 
about  last  night." 

"And  what  is  he  to  do?" 

"I  was  just  coming  to  that."  Her  brown 
eyes  were  gleaming  with  exitement.  "Here's 
my  plan.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  Blind  Charlie 
Peck  could  force  his  way  into  Mr.  Blake's 


THE  CUP  OF  BLISS  255 

scheme  and  become  a  partner  in  it,  then  Mr. 
Manning  can,  too." 

Old  Hosie  blinked. 

"Eh?     Eh?     How?" 

"You  are  to  tell  Mr.  Manning  that  he  is  Mr. 
Hartsell,  or  whoever  he  pleases,  a  real  estate 
dealer  from  the  East,  and  that  his  ostensible 
business  in  Westville  is  to  invest  in  farm  lands. 
Buying  in  run-down  or  undrained  farms  at  a 
low  price  and  putting  them  in  good  condition, 
that's  a  profitable  business  these  days.  Besides, 
since  you  are  an  agent  for  farm  lands,  that 
will  explain  his  relations  with  you.  Under- 
stand?" 

"Yes.     What  next?" 

"Secretly,  he  is  to  go  around  studying  the 
water-works.  Only  not  so  secretly  that  he 
won't  be  noticed." 

"But  what's  that  for?" 

"Buying  farm  land  is  only  a  blind  to  hide 
his  real  business,"  she  went  on  rapidly.  "His 
real  business  here  is  to  look  into  the  condition 
of  the  water-works  with  a  view  to  buying  them 
in.  He  is  a  private  agent  of  Seymour  &  Burnett; 
you  remember  I  am  empowered  to  buy  the 
system  for  Mr.  Seymour.  When  Mr.  Blake 
and  Mr.  Peck  discover  that  a  man  is  secretly 
examining  the  water-works  —  and  they'll  dis- 
cover it  all  right;  when  they  discover  that  this 
man  is  the  agent  of  Mr.  Seymour,  with  all  the 


256  '  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Seymour  millions  behind  him  —  and  we'll 
see  that  they  discover  that,  too — don't  you  see 
that  when  they  make  these  discoveries  this 
may  set  them  to  thinking,  and  something 
may  happen?" 

"I  don't  just  see  it  yet,"  said  Old  Hosie 
slowly,  "but  it  sounds  like  there  might  be 
something  mighty  big  there." 

"When  Mr.  Blake  learns  there  is  another 
secret  buyer  in  the  field,  a  rival  buyer  ready 
and  able  to  run  the  price  up  to  three  times  what 
he  expects  to  pay  —  why,  he'll  see  danger  of 
his  whole  plan  going  to  ruin.  Won't  his  natural 
impulse  be,  rather  than  run  such  a  risk,  to  try 
to  take  the  new  man  in?  —  just  as  he  took  in 
Blind  Charlie  Peck?" 

"I  see!  I  see!"  exclaimed  Old  Hosie.  "By 
George,  it's  mighty  clever!  Then  what  next?" 

"I  can't  see  that  far.  But  with  Mr.  Manning 
on  the  inside,  our  case  is  won." 

Old  Hosie  leaned  forward. 

"It's  great!  Great!  If  you're  not  above 
shaking  hands  with  a  mere  man " 

"Now  don't  make  fun  of  me,"  she  cried, 
gripping  the  bony  old  palm. 

"And  while  you're  quietly  turning  this  little 
trick,"  he  chuckled,  "the  Honourable  Harrison 
Blake  will  be  carefully  watching  every  move  of 
Elijah  Stone,  the  best  hippopotamus  in  the 
sleuth  business,  and  be  doing  right  smart  of 


THE  CUP  OF  BLISS  257 

private  snickering  at  the  simplicity  of  woman- 
kind." 

She  flushed,  but  added  soberly: 

"Of  course  it's  only  a  plan,  and  it  may  not 
work  at  all." 

They  talked  the  scheme  over  in  detail.  At 
length,  shortly  before  the  hour  at  which  the 
afternoon  express  from  the  East  was  due  to 
arrive,  Katherine  retired  to  her  own  office. 
Half  an  hour  later,  looking  down  from  her 
window,  she  saw  the  old  surrey  of  Mr.  Hug- 
gins'  draw  up  beside  the  curb,  in  it  a  quietly 
dressed,  middle-aged  passenger  who  had  the 
appearance  of  a  solid  man  of  affairs.  He 
crossed  the  sidewalk  and  a  little  later  Katherine 
heard  him  enter  Old  Hosie's  office  on  the  floor 
below.  After  a  time  she  saw  the  stranger  go 
out  and  drive  around  the  Square  to  the  Tippe- 
canoe  House,  Peck's  hotel,  where  Katherine  had 
directed  that  Mr.  Manning  be  sent  to  facilitate 
his  being  detected  by  the  enemy. 

Her  plan  laid,  Katherine  saw  there  was  little 
she  could  do  but  await  developments  —  and 
in  the  meantime  to  watch  Blake,  which  Mr. 
Mannings'  role  would  not  permit  his  doing,  and 
to  watch  and  study  Doctor  Sherman.  Despite 
this  new  plan,  and  her  hopes  in  it,  she 
realized  that  it  was  primarily  a  plan  to  defeat 
Blake's  scheme  against  the  city.  She  still 
considered  Doctor  Sherman  the  pivotal  char- 


258  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

acter  in  her  father's  case;  he  was  her  father's 
accuser,  the  man  who,  she  believed  more 
strongly  every  day,  could  clear  him  with  a  few 
explanatory  words.  So  she  determined  to 
watch  him  none  the  less  closely  because  of  her 
new  plan  —  to  keep  her  eyes  upon  him  for 
signs  that  might  show  his  relations  to  Blake's 
scheme  —  to  watch  for  signs  of  the  breaking 
of  his  nerve,  and  at  the  first  sign  to  pounce 
accusingly  upon  him. 

When  she  reached  home  that  afternoon  she 
found  Bruce  awaiting  her.  Since  morning, 
mixed  with  her  palpitating  love  and  her  desire 
to  see  him,  there  had  been  dread  of  this  meeting. 
In  the  back  of  her  mind  the  question  had  all 
day  tormented  her,  should  she,  for  his  own  inter- 
ests, send  him  away?  But  sharper  than  this, 
sharper  a  hundredfold,  was  the  fear  lest  the  dif- 
ference between  their  opinions  should  come  up. 

But  Bruce  showed  no  inclination  to  approach 
this  difference.  Love  was  too  new  and  near  a 
thing  for  him  to  wander  from  the  present. 
For  this  delay  she  was  fervently  grateful,  and 
forgetful  of  all  else  she  leaned  back  in  a  big 
old  walnut  chair  and  abandoned  herself  com- 
pletely to  her  happiness,  which  might  perhaps 
be  all  too  brief.  They  talked  of  a  thousand 
things  —  talk  full  of  mutual  confession:  of 
their  former  hostility,  of  what  it  was  that  had 
drawn  their  love  to  one  another,  of  last  night 


THE  CUP  OF  BLISS  259 

out  in  the  storm.  The  spirits  of  both  ran  high. 
Their  joy,  as  first  joy  should  be,  was  sparkling, 
effervescent. 

After  a  time  she  sat  in  silence  for  several 
moments,  smiling  half-tenderly,  half-roguishly, 
into  his  rugged,  square-hewed  face,  with  its 
glinting  glasses  and  its  chevaux  de  frise  of 
bristling  hair. 

"Well,"  he  demanded,  "what  are  you  think- 
ing about?" 

"I  was  thinking  what  very  bad  eyes  I  have." 

"Bad  eyes?" 

"Yes.  For  up  to  yesterday  I  always  con- 
sidered you But  perhaps  you  are  thin- 
skinned  about  some  matters?" 

"Me  thin-skinned?  IVe  got  the  epidermis 
of  a  crocodile!" 

"Well,  then  —  up  to  yesterday  I  always 
thought  you — but  you're  sure  you  won't  mind?" 

"I  tell  you  I'm  so  thick-skinned  that  it 
meets  in  the  middle!" 

"Well,  then,  till  yesterday  I  always  thought 
you  rather  ugly." 

"Glory   be!     Eureka!     Excelsior!" 

"Then  you  don't  mind?" 

"Mind?"  cried  he.  "Did  you  think  that  I 
thought  I  was  pretty?" 

"I  didn't  know,"  she  replied  with  her  provok- 
ing, happy  smile,  "for  men  are  such  conceited 
creatures." 


26o  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I'm  not  authorized  to  speak  for  the  rest,  but 
I'm  certainly  conceited,"  he  returned  promptly. 
"For  I've  always  believed  myself  one  of  the 
ugliest  animals  in  the  whole  human  menagerie. 
And  at  last  my  merits  are  recognized." 

"But  I  said  'till  yesterday',"  she  corrected. 
"  Since  then,  somehow,  your  face  seems  to  have 
changed." 

"Changed?" 

"Yes.  I  think  you  are  growing  rather  good- 
looking."  Behind  her  happy  raillery  was  a 
tone  of  seriousness. 

"Good-looking?  Me  good-looking?  And  that's 
the  way  you  dash  my  hopes!" 

"Yes,  sir.     Good-looking." 

"Woman,  you  don't  know  what  sorrow  is  in 
those  words  you  spoke!  Just  to  think,"  he  said 
mournfully,  "that  all  my  life  I've  fondled  the 
belief  that  when  I  was  made  God  must  have 
dropped  the  clay  while  it  was  still  wet." 

"I'm  sorry " 

"Don't  try  to  comfort  me.  The  blow's 
too  heavy."  He  slowly  shook  his  head.  "I 
never  loved  a  dear  gazelle " 

"Oh,  I  don't  mean  the  usual  sort  of  good- 
looking,"  she  consoled  him.  "But  good-looking 
like  an  engine,  or  a  crag,  or  a  mountain." 

"Well,  at  any  rate,"  he  said  with  solemn 
resignation,  "it's  something  to  know  the  par- 
ticular type  of  beauty  that  I  am." 


THE  CUP  OF  BLISS  261 

Suddenly  they  both  burst  into  merry  laughter. 

"But  I'm  really  in  earnest,"  she  protested. 
"For  you  really  are  good-looking!" 

He  leaned  forward,  caught  her  two  hands 
in  his  powerful  grasp  and  almost  crushed  his 
lips  against  them. 

"Perhaps  it's  just  as  well  you  don't  mind 
my  face,  dear,"  he  half-whispered,  "for,  you 
know,  you're  going  to  see  a  lot  of  it." 

She  flushed,  and  her  whole  being  seemed  to 
swim  in  happiness.  They  did  not  speak  for  a 
time;  and  she  sat  gazing  with  warm,  luminous 
eyes  into  his  rugged,  determined  face,  now  so 
soft,  so  tender. 

But  suddenly  her  look  became  very  grave, 
for  the  question  of  the  morning  had  recurred 
to  her.  Should  she  not  give  him  up? 

"May  I  speak  about  something  serious?" 
she  asked  with  an  effort.  "Something  very 
serious?" 

"About  anything  in  the  world!"  said  he. 

"It's  something  I  was  thinking  about  this 
morning,  and  all  day,"  she  said.  "I'm  afraid 
I  haven't  been  very  thoughtful  of  you.  And 
I'm  afraid  you  haven't  been  very  thoughtful  of 
yourself." 

"How?" 

"We've  been  together  quite  ofteri  of  late." 

"Not  often  enough!" 

"But  often  enough  to  set  people  talking." 


262  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Let  'em  talk!" 

"  But  you  must  remember " 

"Let's  stop  their  tongues,"  he  interrupted. 

"How?" 

"  Byjannouncing  our  engagement."  He  gripped 
her  hands.  "For  we  are  engaged,  aren't  we?" 

"I  —  I  don't  know,"  she  breathed. 

"Don't  know?"  He  stared  at  her.  "Why, 
you're  white  as  a  sheet!  You're  not  in  ear- 
nest?" 

"Yes." 

"What  does  this  mean?" 

"I  —  I  had  started  to  tell  you.  You  must 
remember  that  I  am  an  unpopular  person,  and 
that  in  my  father  I  am  representing  an  unpopu- 
lar man.  And  you  must  remember  that  you 
are  candidate  for  mayor." 

He  had  begun  to  get  her  drift. 

"Well?" 

"Well,  I  am  afraid  our  being  together  will 
lessen  your  chances.  And  I  don't  want  to  do 
anything  in  the  world  that  will  injure  you." 

"Then  you  think " 

"I  think  —  I  think"  —  she  spoke  with  diffi- 
culty—  "we  should  stop  seeing  each  other." 

"For  my  sake?" 

"Yes." 

He  bent'  nearer  and  looked  her  piercingly 
in  the  eyes. 

"But  for  your  own  sake?"  he  demanded. 


THE  CUP  OF  BLISS  263 

She  did  not  speak. 

"But  for  your  own  sake?"  he  persisted. 

"For  my  sake  —  for  my  sake "  Half- 
choked,  she  broke  off. 

"Honest   now?     Honest?" 

She  did  not  realize  till  that  moment  all  it 
would  mean  to  her  to  see  him  no  more. 

"For  my  own  sake "  Suddenly  her  hands 

tightened  about  his  and  she  pressed  them  to  her 
face.  "For  my  sake  —  never!  never!" 

"And  do  you  think  that  I "  He  gathered 

her  into  his  strong  arms.  "Let  them  talk!" 
he  breathed  passionately  against  her  cheek. 
"We'll  win  the  town  in  spite  of  it!" 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    CANDIDATE    AND    THE    TIGER 

THE  town's  talk  continued,  as  Katherine 
knew  it  would.  But  though  she  re- 
sented it  in  Brace's  behalf,  it  was  of 
small  importance  in  her  relationship  with  him 
compared  with  the  difference  in  their  opinions. 
She  was  in  constant  fear,  every  time  he  called, 
lest  that  difference  should  come  up.  But  it 
did  not  on  the  next  day,  nor  on  the  next.  He 
was  too  full  of  love  on  the  one  hand,  too  full 
of  his  political  fight  on  the  other.  The  more 
she  saw  of  him  the  more  she  loved  him,  so 
thoroughly  fine,  so  deeply  tender,  was  he  — 
and  the  more  did  she  dread  that  avoidless  day 
when  their  ideas  must  come  into  collision,  so 
masterful  was  he,  so  certain  that  he  was  right. 
On  the  fourth  evening  after  their  stormy 
ride  she  thought  the  collision  was  at  hand. 

"There  is  something  serious  I  want  to  speak 
to  you  about,"  he  began,  as  they  sat  in  the  old- 
fashioned  parlour.  "You  know  what  the  storm 
has  done  to  the  city  water.  It  has  washed  all 
the  summer's  accumulation  of  filth  down  into 

264 


THE  CANDIDATE  AND  THE  TIGER        265 

the  streams  that  feed  the  reservoir,  and  since 
the  filtering  plant  is  out  of  commission  the 
water  has  been  simply  abominable.  The  people 
are  complaining  louder  than  ever.  Blake  and 
the  rest  of  his  crew  are  telling  the  public  that 
this  water  is  a  sample  of  what  everything  will 
be  like  if  I'm  elected.  It's  hurting  me,  and 
hurting  me  a  lot.  I  don't  blame  the  people 
so  much  for  being  influenced  by  what  Blake 
says,  for,  of  course,  they  don't  know  what's 
going  on  beneath  the  surface.  But  I've  got  to 
make  some  kind  of  a  reply,  and  a  mighty  strong 
one,  too.  Now  here's  where  I  want  you  to 
help  me." 

"What  can  I  do?"  she  asked. 

"If  I  could  only  tell  the  truth  —  what  a 
regular  knock-out  of  a  reply  that  would  be!" 
he  exclaimed.  "Some  time  ago  you  told  me 
to  wait  —  you  expected  to  have  the  proof  a 
little  later.  Do  you  have  any  idea  how  soon 
you  will  have  your  evidence?" 

Again  she  felt  the  impulse  to  tell  him  all 
she  knew  and  all  her  plans.  But  a  medley 
of  motives  worked  together  to  restrain  her. 
There  was  the  momentum  of  her  old  decision 
to  keep  silent.  There  was  the  knowledge  that, 
though  he  loved  her  as  a  woman,  he  still  held 
her  in  low  esteem  as  a  lawyer.  There  was  the 
instinct  that  what  she  knew,  if  saved,  might 
in  some  way  serve  her  when  they  two  fought 


266  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

their  battle.  And  there  was  the  thrilling  dream 
of  waiting  till  she  had  all  her  evidence  gathered 
and  then  bringing  it  triumphantly  to  him  — 
and  thus  enable  him  through  her  to  conquer. 

"I'm  afraid  I  can't  give  you  the  proof  for 
a  while  yet,"  she  replied. 

She  saw  that  he  was  impatient  at  the  delay, 
that  he  believed  she  would  discover  nothing. 
She  expected  the  outbreak  that  very  instant. 
She  expected  him  to  demand  that  she  turn  the 
case  over  to  the  Indianapolis  lawyer  he  had 
spoken  to  her  about,  who  would  be  able  to 
make  some  progress;  to  demand  that  she  give 
up  law  altogether,  and  demand  that  as  his 
intended  wife  she  give  up  all  thought  of  an 
independent  professional  career.  She  nerved 
herself  for  the  shock  of  battle. 

But  it  did  not  come. 

"All  right,"  he  said.  "I  suppose  I'll  have 
to  wait  a  little  longer,  then." 

He  got  up  and  paced  the  floor. 

"But  I  can't  let  Blake  and  his  bunch  go  on 
saying  those  things  without  any  kind  of  an 
answer  from  me.  I've  got  to  talk  back,  or 
get  out  of  the  fight!" 

He  continued  pacing  to  and  fro,  irked  by  his 
predicament,  frowning  with  thought.  Pres- 
ently he  paused  before  her. 

"  Here  is  what  I'm  going  to  say,"  he  announced 
decisively.  "  Since  I  cannot  tell  the  whole  truth, 


THE  CANDIDATE  AND  THE  TIGER        267 

I'm  going  to  tell  a  small  part  of  the  truth. 
I'm  going  to  say  that  the  condition  of  the  water 
is  due  to  intentional  mismanagement  on  the 
part  of  the  present  administration  —  which 
everybody  knows  is  dominated  by  Blake. 
Blake's  party,  in  order  to  prevent  my  election 
on  a  municipal  ownership  platform,  in  order 
to  make  sure  of  remaining  in  power,  is  pur- 
posely trying  to  make  municipal  ownership 
fail.  And  I'm  going  to  say  this  as  often,  and 
as  hard,  as  I  can!" 

In  the  days  that  followed  he  certainly  did 
say  it  hard,  both  in  the  Express  and  in  his 
speeches.  The  charge  had  not  been  made 
publicly  before,  and,  stated  with  Bruce's 
tremendous  emphasis,  it  now  created  a  sen- 
sation. Everybody  talked  about  it;  it  gave 
a  yet  further  excitement  to  a  most  exciting 
campaign.  There  was  vigorous  denial  from 
Blake,  his  fellow  candidates,  and  from  the 
Clarion,  which  was  supporting  the  Blake  ticket. 
Again  and  again  the  Clarion  denounced  Bruce's 
charge  as  merely  the  words  of  a  demagogue, 
a  yellow  journalist  —  merely  the  irresponsible 
and  baseless  calumny  so  common  in  campaigns. 
Nevertheless,  it  had  the  effect  that  Bruce  in- 
tended. His  stock  took  a  new  jump,  and  senti- 
ment in  his  favour  continued  to  grow  at  a  rate 
that  made  him  exult  and  that  filled  the  enemy 
with  concern. 


268  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

This  inquietude  penetrated  the  side  office 
of  the  Tippecanoe  House  and  sorely  troubled 
the  heart  of  Blind  Charlie  Peck.  So,  early  one 
afternoon,  he  appeared  in  the  office  of  the 
editor  of  the  Express.  His  reception  was  rather 
more  pleasant  than  on  the  occasion  of  his  first 
visit,  now  over  a  month  before;  for,  although 
Katherine  had  repeated  her  warning,  Bruce 
had  given  it  little  credit.  He  did  not  have  much 
confidence  in  her  woman's  judgment.  Be- 
sides, he  was  reassured  by  the  fact  that  Blind 
Charlie  had,  in  every  apparent  particular, 
adhered  to  his  bargain  to  keep  hands  off. 

"Just  wait  a  second,"  Bruce  said  to  his 
caller;  and  turning  back  to  his  desk  he  hastily 
scribbled  a  headline  over  an  item  about  a  case 
of  fever  down  in  River  Court.  This  he  sent 
down  to  the  composing-room,  and  swung 
around  to  the  old  politician.  "Well,  now, 
what's  up?" 

"I  just  dropped  around,"  said  Blind  Charlie, 
with  his  good-natured  smile,  "to  congratulate 
you  on  the  campaign  you're  making.  You're 
certainly  putting  up  a  fine  article  of  fight!" 

"It  does  look  as  if  we  had  a  pretty  fair 
chance  of  winning,"  returned  Bruce,  confidently. 

"Great!  Great!"  said  Blind  Charlie  heartily. 
"I  certainly  made  no  mistake  when  I  picked 
you  out  as  the  one  man  that  could  win 
for  us." 


THE  CANDIDATE  AND  THE  TIGER        269 

"Thanks.  I've  done  my  best.  And  I'm 
going  to  keep  it  up." 

"That's  right.  I  told  you  I  looked  on  it  as 
my  last  campaign.  I'm  pretty  old,  and  my 
heart's  not  worth  a  darn.  When  I  go,  whether 
it's  up  or  down,  I'll  travel  a  lot  easier  for  having 
first  soaked  Blake  good  and  proper." 

Bruce  did  not  answer.  He  expected  Blind 
Charlie  to  leave;  in  fact,  he  wanted  him  to  go, 
for  it  lacked  but  a  quarter  of  an  hour  of  press 
time.  But  instead  of  departing,  Blind  Charlie 
settled  back  in  his  chair,  crossed  his  legs  and 
leisurely  began  to  cut  off  a  comfortable  mouth- 
ful from  his  plug  of  tobacco. 

"Yes,  sir,  it's  a  great  fight,"  he  continued. 
"It  doesn't  seem  that  it  could  be  improved  on. 
But  a  little  idea  has  come  to  me  that  may 
possibly  help.  It  may  not  be  any  good  at  all, 
but  I  thought  it  wouldn't  do  any  harm  to  drop 
in  and  suggest  it  to  you." 

"I'll  be  glad  to  hear  it,"  returned  Bruce. 
"But  couldn't  we  talk  it  over,  say  in  half  an 
hour?  It's  close  to  press  time,  and  I've  got  some 
proofs  to  look  through  —  in  fact  the  proof  of  an 
article  on  that  water-works  charge  of  mine." 

"Oh,  I'll  only  take  a  minute  or  two,"  said 
Blind  Charlie.  "And  you  may  want  to  make 
use  of  my  idea  in  this  afternoon's  paper." 

"Well,  go  ahead.  Only  remember  that  at 
this  hour  the  press  is  my  boss." 


270  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Of  course,  of  course,"  said  Blind  Charlie 
amiably.  "Well,  here's  to  business:  Now  I 
guess  I've  been  through  about  as  many  elec- 
tions as  you  are  years  old.  It  isn't  what  the 
people  think  in  the  middle  of  the  campaign 
that  wins.  It's  what  they  think  on  election 
day.  I've  seen  many  a  horse  that  looked  like 
he  had  the  race  on  ice  at  the  three  quarters 
licked  to  a  frazzle  in  the  home  stretch.  Same 
with  candidates.  Just  now  you  look  like  a 
winner.  What  we  want  is  to  make  sure  that 
you'll  still  be  out  in  front  when  you  go  under 
the  wire." 

"Yes,  yes,"  said  Bruce  impatiently.  "What's 
your  plan?" 

"You've  got  the  people  with  you  now," 
the  old  man  continued,  "and  we  want  to  make 
sure  you  don't  lose  'em.  This  water-works 
charge  of  yours  has  been  a  mighty  good  move. 
But  I've  had  my  ear  to  the  ground.  I've  had 
it  to  the  ground  for  nigh  on  fifty  years,  and  if 
there's  any  kind  of  a  political  noise,  you  can 
bet  I  hear  it.  Now  I've  detected  some  sounds 
which  tell  me  that  your  water-works  talk  is 
beginning  to  react  against  you." 

"You   don't  say!     I   haven't  noticed  it." 

"Of  course  not;  if  you  had,  there'd  be  no 
use  for  me  to  come  here  and  tell  you,"  returned 
Blind  Charlie  blandly.  "That's  where  the 
value  of  my  political  ear  comes  in.  Now  in 


THE  CANDIDATE  AND  THE  TIGER        271 

my  time  Pve  seen  many  a  sensation  react  and 
swamp  the  man  that  started  it.  That's  what 
we've  got  to  look  out  for  and  guard  against." 

"U'm!  And  what  do  you  think  we  ought 
to  do?" 

Bruce  was  being  taken  in  a  little  easier  than 
Blind  Charlie  had  anticipated. 

"If  I  were  you,"  the  old  man  continued  per- 
suasively, "Pd  pitch  the  tune  of  the  whole 
business  in  a  little  lower  key.  Let  up  on  the 
big  noise  you're  making  —  cut  out  some  of  the 
violent  statements.  I  think  you  understand. 
Take  my  word  for  it,  quieter  tactics  will  be  a 
lot  more  effective  at  this  stage  of  the  game. 
You've  got  the  people  —  you  don't  want  to 
scare  them  away." 

Bruce  stared  thoughtfully,  and  without  sus- 
picion, at  the  loose-skinned,  smiling,  old  face. 

"U'm!"  he  said.     "U'm!" 

Blind  Charlie  waited  patiently  for  two  or 
three  minutes. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think?"  he  asked. 

"You  may  be  right,"  Bruce  slowly  ad- 
mitted. 

"There's  no  doubt  of  it,"  the  old  politician 
pleasantly  assured  him. 

"And  of  course  I'm  much  obliged.  But  I'm 
afraid  I  disagree  with  you." 

"Eh?"  said  Blind  Charlie,  with  the  least 
trace  of  alarm. 


272  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Brace's  face  tightened,  and  the  flat  of  his 
hand  came  down  upon  his  desk. 

"When  you  start  a  fight,  the  way  to  win  is 
to  keep  on  fighting.  And  that's  what  I'm  going 
to  do." 

Blind  Charlie  started  forward  in  his  chair. 

"  See  here,  "  he  began,  authoritatively.  But 
in  an  instant  his  voice  softened.  "You'll  be 
making  a  big  mistake  if  you  do  that.  Better 
trust  to  my  older  head  in  this.  I  want  to  win 
as  much  as  you  do,  you  know." 

"I  admit  you  may  be  right,"  said  Bruce  dog- 
gedly. "But  I'm  going  to  fight  right  straight 
ahead." 

"Come,  now,  listen  to  reason." 

"I've  heard  your  reasons.  And  I'm  going 
right  on  with  the  fight." 

Blind  Charlie's  face  grew  grim,  but  his  voice 
was  still  gentle  and  insinuating. 

"Oh,  you  are,  are  you?  And  give  no  atten- 
tion to  my  advice?" 

"I'm  sorry,  but  that's  the  way  I  see  it." 

"I'm  sorry,  but  that's  the  way  I  don't  see  it." 

"I  know;  but  I  guess  I'm  running  this  cam- 
paign," retorted  Bruce  a  little  hotly. 

"And  I  guess  the  party  chairman  has  some 
say-so,  too." 

"I  told  you,  when  I  accepted,  that  I  would 
take  the  nomination  without  strings,  or  I 
wouldn't  take  it  at  all.  And  you  agreed." 


THE  CANDIDATE  AND  THE  TIGER        273 

"I  didn't  agree  to  let  you  ruin  the  party." 

Bruce  looked  at  him  keenly,  for  the  first 
time  suspicious.  Katherine's  warning  echoed 
vaguely  in  his  head. 

"See  here,  Charlie  Peck,  what  the  devil  are 
you  up  to?" 

"Better  do  as  I  say,"  advised  Peck. 

"I  won't!" 

"You  won't,  eh?"  Blind  Charlie's  face  had 
grown  hard  and  dark  with  threats.  "If  you 
don't,"  he  said,  "I'm  afraid  the  boys  won't  see 
your  name  on  the  ticket  on  election  day  " 

Bruce  sprang  up. 

"Damn  you!     What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"I  reckon  you're  not  such  an  infant  that  you 
need  that  explained." 

"You're  right;  I'm  not!"  cried  Bruce.  "And 
so  you  threaten  to  send  word  around  to  the 
boys  to  knife  me  on  election  day?" 

"As  I  said,  I  guess  I  don't  need  to  explain." 

"No,  you  don't,  for  Inowsee  why  you  came 
here,"  cried  Bruce,  his  wrath  rising  as  he  real- 
ized that  he  had  been  hoodwinked  by  Blind 
Charlie  from  the  very  first.  "So  there's  a 
frame-up  between  you  and  Blake,  and  you're 
trying  to  sell  me  out  and  sell  out  the  party! 
You  first  tried  to  wheedle  me  into  laying  down 
—  and  when  I  wouldn't  be  fooled,  you  turned 
to  threats!" 

"The    question    isn't    what    I    came    for," 


274  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

snapped  Blind  Charlie.  "The  question  is,  what 
are  you  going  to  do?  Either  you  do  as  I  say, 
or  not  one  of  the  boys  will  vote  for  you.  Now 
I  want  your  answer." 

"You  want  my  answer,  do  you?  Why  — 

why "  Bruce  glared  down  at  the  old  man 

in  a  fury.  "Well,  by  God,  you'll  get  my  answer, 
and  quick!" 

He  dropped  down  before  his  typewriter,  ran 
in  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  for  a  minute  the  keys 
clicked  like  mad.  Then  he  jerked  out  the 
sheet  of  paper,  scribbled  a  cabalistic  instruc- 
tion across  its  top,  sprang  to  his  office  door 
and  let  out  a  great  roar  of  "Copy!" 

He  quickly  faced  about  upon  Blind  Charlie. 

"Here's  my  answer.     Listen: 

"  "This  afternoon  Charlie  Peck  called  at  the  office  of  the  Express  and 
ordered  its  editor,  who  is  candidate  for  mayor,  to  cease  from  his 
present  aggressive  campaign  tactics.  He  threatened,  in  case  the  candi- 
date refused,  to  order  the  "  boys  "  to  knife  him  at  the  polls. 

"  'The  candidate  refused. 

"  'Voters  of  Westville,  do  your  votes  belong  to  you,  or  do  they  be- 
long to  Charlie  Peck  ?' 

"That's  my  answer,  Peck.  It  all  goes  in  big, 
black  type  in  a  box  in  the  centre  of  the  first  page 
of  this  afternoon's  paper.  We'll  see  whether  the 
party  will  stand  for  your  methods."  At  this 
instant  the  grimy  young  servitor  of  the  press 
appeared.  "Here,  boy.  Rush  that  right  down." 

"Hold  on!"  cried  Peck  in  consternation. 
"You're  not  going  to  print  that  thing?" 


THE  CANDIDATE  AND  THE  TIGER       275 

"Unless  the  end  of  the  world  happens  along 
just  about  now,  that'll  be  on  the  street  in  half 
an  hour."  Bruce  stepped  to  the  door  and 
opened  it  wide.  "And,  now,  clear  out!  You 
and  your  votes  can  go  plum  to  hell!" 

"Damn  you!  But  that  piece  will  do  you  no 
good.  I'll  deny  it!" 

"Deny  it  —  for  God's  sake  do!  Then  every- 
body will  know  I'm  telling  the  truth.  And  let 
me  warn  you,  Charlie  Peck  —  I'm  going  to 
find  out  what  your  game  is!  I'm  going  to  show 
you  up!  I'm  going  to  wipe  you  clear  off  the 
political  map!" 

Blind  Charlie  swore  at  him  again  as  he 
passed  out  of  the  door. 

"We're  not  through  with  each  other  yet  — 
remember  that!" 

"You  bet  we're  not!"  Bruce  shouted  after 
him.  "And  when  we  are,  there'll  not  be 
enough  of  you  left  to  know  what's  happened!" 


CHAPTER  XIX 

WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK 

TWO   hours    later    Bruce    was     striding 
angrily  up  and  down  the  West  parlour, 
telling  Katherine  all  about  it. 
She  refrained  from  saying,  "I  told  you  so," 
by  either  word  or  look.     She  was  too  wise  for 
such    a    petty    triumph.     Besides,    there    was 
something  in  that  afternoon's  Express,  which 
Bruce  had  handed  her  that  interested  her  far 
more  than  his  wrathful  recital  of  Blind  Charlie's 
treachery;   and   although   she   was    apparently 
giving  Bruce  her  entire  attention,  and  was  in 
fact  mechanically  taking  in  his  words,  her  mind 
was  excitedly  playing  around  this  second  piece 
of  news. 

For  Doctor  Sherman,  so  said  the  Express, 
had  that  day  suddenly  left  Westville.  He  had 
been  failing  in  health  for  many  weeks  and  was 
on  the  verge  of  a  complete"  breakdown,  the 
Express  sympathetically  explained,  and  at  last 
had  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  his  worried 
congregation  that  he  take  a  long  vacation. 
He  had  gone  to  the  pine  woods  of  the  North, 

276 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  277 

and  to  insure  the  unbroken  rest  he  so  impera- 
tively required,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
appealing  letters  of  inconsiderate  parishioners 
or  other  cares  from  following  him  into  his  iso- 
lation, he  had,  at  his  doctor's  command,  left  no 
address  behind. 

Katherine  instantly  knew  that  this  vacation 
was  a  flight.  The  situation  in  Westville  had 
grown  daily  more  intense,  and  Doctor  Sherman 
had  seemed  to  her  to  be  under  an  ever-increas- 
ing strain.  Blake,  she  was  certain,  had  ordered 
the  young  clergyman  to  leave,  fearing,  if  he 
remained,  that  his  nerve  might  break  and  he 
might  confess  his  true  relation  to  her  father's 
case.  She  realized  that  now,  when  Doctor 
Sherman  was  apparently  weakening,  was  the 
psychological  time  to  besiege  him  with  accusa- 
tion and  appeal;  and  while  Bruce  was  rehearsing 
his  scene  with  Blind  Charlie  she  was  rapidly 
considering  means  for  seeking  out  Doctor 
Sherman  and  coming  face  to  face  with  him. 

Her  mind  was  brought  back  from  its  swift 
search  by  Bruce  swinging  a  chair  up  before 
her  and  sitting  down. 

"But,  Katherine  —  I'll  show  Peck!"  he 
cried,  fiercely,  exultantly.  "He  doesn't  know 
what  a  fight  he's  got  ahead  of  him.  This 
frees  me  entirely  from  him  and  his  machine, 
and  I'm  going  to  beat  him  so  bad  that  I'll  drive 
him  clear  out  of  politics." 


278  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

She  nodded.  That  was  exactly  what  she 
was  secretly  striving  to  help  him  do. 

He  became  more  composed,  and  for  a  hesi- 
tant, silent  moment  he  peered  thoughtfully  into 
her  eyes. 

"But,  Katherine  —  this  affair  with  Peck 
this  afternoon  shows  me  I  am  up  against  a 
mighty  stiff  proposition,"  he  said,  speaking 
with  the  slowness  of  one  who  is  shaping  his 
statements  with  extreme  care.  "I  have  got 
to  fight  a  lot  harder  than  I  thought  I  would 
have  to  three  hours  ago,  when  I  thought  I  had 
Peck  with  me.  To  beat  him,  and  beat  Blake, 
I  have  got  to  have  every  possible  weapon. 
Consequently,  circumstances  force  me  to  speak 
of  a  matter  that  I  wish  I  did  not  have  to  talk 
about."  He  reached  forward  and  took  her 
hand.  "But,  remember,  dear,"  he  besought 
her  tenderly,  "that  I  don't  want  to  hurt  you. 
Remember  that." 

She  felt  a  sudden  tightening  about  the  heart. 

"Yes  —  what  is  it?"  she  asked  quietly. 

"Remember,  dear,  that  I  don't  want  to  hurt 
you,"  he  repeated.  "It's  about  your  father's 
case.  You  see  how  certain  victory  would  be 
if  we  only  had  the  evidence  to  prove  what  we 
know?"  ' 

"I  see." 

"I  don't  mean  to  say  one  single  unkind  word 
about  your  not  having  made  —  having  made 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  279 

—  more  encouraging  progress."  He  pressed 
her  hand;  his  tone  was  gentle  and  persuasive. 
"I'll  confess  I  have  secretly  felt  some  impatience, 
but  I  have  not  pressed  the  matter  because  — 
well,  you  see  that  in  this  critical  situation, 
with  election  so  near,  I'm  forced  to  speak 
about  it  now." 

"What  would  you  like?"  she  said  with  an 
effort. 

"You  see  we  cannot  afford  any  more  delays, 
any  more  risks.  We  have  got  to  have  the 
quickest  possible  action.  We  have  got  to  use 
every  measure  that  may  get  results.  Now, 
dear,  you  would  not  object,  would  you,  if  at 
this  critical  juncture,  when  every  hour  is  so 
valuable,  we  were  to  put  the  whole  matter  in 
the  hands  of  my  Indianapolis  lawyer  friend  I 
spoke  to  you  about?" 

The  gaze  she  held  upon  his  continued  steady, 
but  she  was  pulsing  wildly  within  and  she 'had 
to  swallow  several  times  before  she  could  speak. 

"You  —  you  think  he  can  do  better  than 
I  can?" 

"I  do  not  want  to  say  a  single  word  that  will 
reflect  on  you,  dear.  But  we  must  admit  the 
facts.  You  have  had  the  case  for  over  four 
months,  and  we  have  no  real  evidence  as  yet." 

"And  you  think  he  can  get  it?" 

"He's  very  shrewd,  very  experienced.  He'll 
follow  up  every  clue  with  detectives.  If  any 


28o  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

man  can  succeed  in  the  short  time  that  remains, 
he  can." 

"Then  you  —  you  think  I  can't  succeed?" 

"Come,  dear,  let's  be  reasonable!" 

"But  I  think  I  can." 

"But,  Katherine!"  he  expostulated. 

She  felt  what  was  coming. 

"  I'm  sure  I  can  —  if  you  will  only  trust  me 
a  little  longer!"  she  said  desperately. 

He  dropped  her  hand. 

"You  mean  that,  though  I  ask  you  to  give  it 
up,  you  want  to  continue  the  case?" 

She  grew  dizzy,  his  figure  swam  before  her. 

"I  — I  think  I  do." 

"Why  —why "  He  broke  off.  "I  can't 

tell  you  how  surprised  I  am!"  he  exclaimed. 
"I  have  said  nothing  of  late  because  I  was 
certain  that,  if  I  gave  nature  a  little  time  in 
which  to  work,  there  would  be  no  need  to  argue 
the  matter  with  you.  I  was  certain  that,  now 
that  love  had  entered  your  life,  your  deeper 
woman's  instincts  would  assert  themselves  and 
you  would  naturally  desire  to  withdraw  from 
the  case.  In  fact,  I  was  certain  that  your  wish 
to  practise  law,  your  ambition  for  a  career 
outside  the  home,  would  sink  into  insig- 
nificance —  and  that  you  would  have  no  desire 
other  than  to  become  a  true  woman  of  the  home, 
where  I  want  my  wife  to  be,  where  she  belongs. 
Oh,  come  now,  Katherine,"  he  added  with  a 


28l 

rush  of  his  dominating  confidence,  taking  her 
hand  again,  "you  know  that's  just  what  you're 
going  to  do!" 

She  sat  throbbing,  choking.  She  realized 
that  the  long-feared  battle  was  now  inevitably 
at  hand.  For  the  moment  she  did  not  know 
whether  she  was  going  to  yield  or  fight.  Her 
love  of  him,  her  desire  to  please  him,  her  fear 
of  what  might  be  the  consequence  if  she  crossed 
him,  all  impelled  her  toward  surrender;  her 
deep-seated,  long-clung-to  principles  impelled 
her  to  make  a  stand  for  the  life  of  her  dreams. 
She  was  a  tumult  of  counter  instincts  and 
emotions.  But  excited  as  she  was,  she  found 
herself  looking  on  at  herself  in  a  curious  detach- 
ment, palpitantly  wondering  which  was  going 
to  win  —  the  primitive  woman  in  her,  the 
product  of  thousands  of  generations  of  training 
to  fit  man's  desire,  or  this  other  woman  she 
contained,  shaped  by  but  a  few  brief  years,  who 
had  come  ardently  to  believe  that  she  had  the 
right  to  be  what  she  wanted  to  be,  no  matter 
what  the  man  required. 

"Oh,  come  now,  dear,"  Bruce  assured  her 
confidently,  yet  half  chidingly,  "you  know  you 
are  going  to  give  it  all  up  and  be  just  my  wife!" 

She  gazed  at  his  rugged,  resolute  face,  smiling 
at  her  now  with  that  peculiar  forgiving  tender- 
ness that  an  older  person  bestows  upon  a  child 
that  is  about  to  yield  its  childish  whim. 


282  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"There  now,  it's  all  settled,"  he  said,  smooth- 
ing her  hand.  "And  we'll  say  no  more  about 
it." 

And  then  words  forced  their  way  up  out  of 
her  turbulent  indecision. 

"I'm  afraid  it  isn't  settled." 

His  eyebrows  rose  in  surprise. 

"No?" 

"No.  I  want  to  be  your  wife,  Arnold. 
But  —  but  I  can't  give  up  the  other." 

"What!     You're  in  earnest?"  he  cried. 

"I  am  —  with  all  my  heart!" 

He  sank  back  and  stared  at  her.  If  further 
answer  were  needed,  her  pale,  set  face  gave  it 
to  him.  His  quick  anger  began  to  rise,  but 
he  forced  it  down. 

"That  puts  an  entirely  new  face  on  the 
matter,"  he  said,  trying  to  speak  calmly. 
4<The  question,  instead  of  merely  concerning 
the  next  few  weeks,  concerns  our  whole  lives." 

She  tried  to  summon  all  her  strength,  all  her 
faculties,  for  the  shock  of  battle. 

"Just  so,"  she  answered 

"Then  we  must  go  over  the  matter  very 
fully,"  he  said.  His  command  over  himself 
grew  more  easy.  He  believed  that  what  he 
had  to  do  was  to  be  patient,  and  talk  her  out 
of  her  absurdity.  "You  must  understand,  of 
course,"  he  went  on,  smiling  at  her  tenderly, 
"that  I  want  to  support  my  wife,  and  that  I 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  283 

am  able  to  support  my  wife.  I  want  to  pro- 
tect her  —  shield  her  —  have  her  lean  upon  me. 
I  want  her  to  be  the  goddess  of  my  home.  The 
goddess  of  my  home,  Katherine!  That's  what 
I  want.  You  understand,  dear,  don't  you?" 

She  saw  that  he  confidently  expected  her  to 
yield  to  his  ideal  and  accept  it,  and  she  now 
knew  that  she  could  never  yield.  She  paused 
a  space  before  she  spoke,  in  a  sort  of  terror  of 
what  might  be  the  consequence  of  the  next 
few  moments. 

"I  understand  you,"  she  said,  duplicating 
his  tone  of  reason.  "But  what  shall  I  do  in 
the  home?  I  dislike  housework." 

"There's  no  need  of  your  doing  it,"  he 
promptly  returned.  "I  can  afford  servants." 

"Then  what  shall  I  do  in  the  home?"  she 
repeated. 

"Take  things  easy.     Enjoy  yourself." 

"But  I  don't  want  to  enjoy  myself.  I 
want  to  do  things.  I  want  to  work." 

"Come,  come,  be  reasonable,"  he  said,  with 
his  tolerant  smile.  "You  know  that's  quite 
out  of  the  question." 

"Since  you  are  going  to  pay  servants,"  she 
persisted,  "why  should  I  idle  about  the  house? 
Why  should  not  I,  an  able-bodied  person,  be 
out  helping  in  the  world's  work  somehow  — 
and  also  helping  you  to  earn  a  living?" 

"Help  me  earn  a  living!"     He  flushed,  but 


284  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

his  resentment  subsided.  "When  I  asked  you 
to  marry  me  I  implied  in  that  question  that  I 
was  able  and  willing  to  support  you.  Really, 
Katherine,  it's  quite  absurd  for  you  to  talk  about 
it.  There  is  no  financial  necessity  whatever 
for  you  to  work." 

"You  mean,  then,  that  I  should  not  work 
because,  in  you,  I  have  enough  to  live  upon?" 

"Of  course!" 

"Do  you  know  any  man,  any  real  man  I 
mean,"  she  returned  quickly,  "who  stops  work 
in  the  vigour  of  his  prime  merely  because  he 
has  enough  money  to  live  upon?  Would  you 
give  up  your  work  to-morrow  if  some  one  were 
willing  to  support  you?" 

"Now,  don't  be  ridiculous,  Katherine! 
That's  quite  a  different  question.  I'm  a  man, 
you  know." 

"And  work  is  a  necessity  for  you?" 

"Why,  of  course." 

"And  you  would  not  be  happy  without  it?" 
she  eagerly  pursued. 

"Certainly    not." 

"And  you  are  right  there!  But  what 
you  don't  seem  to  understand  is,  that  I  have 
the  same  need,  the  same  love,  for  work  that 
you  have.  If  you  could  only  recognize,  Arnold, 
that  I  have  the  same  feelings  in  this  matter 
that  you  have,  then  you  would  understand  me. 
I  demand  for  myself  the  right  that  all  men 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  285 

possess  as  a  matter  of  course  —  the  right  to 
work!" 

"If  you  must  work,"  he  cried,  a  little  exas- 
perated, "why,  of  course,  you  can  help  in  the 
housework." 

"But  I  also  demand  the  right  to  choose  my 
work.  Why  should  I  do  work  which  I  do  not 
like,  for  which  I  have  no  aptitude,  and  which 
I  should  do  poorly,  and  give  up  work  which 
interests  me,  for  which  I  have  been  trained, 
and  for  which  I  believe  I  have  an  aptitude  ? " 

"But  don't  you  realize,  in  doing  it,  if  you 
are  successful,  you  are  taking  the  bread  out  of 
a  man's  mouth?"  he  retorted. 

"Then  every  man  who  has  a  living  income, 
and  yet  works,  is  also  taking  the  bread  out  of 
a  man's  mouth.  But  does  a  real  man  stop 
work  because  of  that?  Besides,  if  you  use 
that  argument,  then  in  doing  my  own  house- 
work I'd  be  taking  the  bread  out  of  a  woman's 
mouth." 

"Why  —  why "  he  stammered.  His  face 

began  to  redden.  "We  shouldn't  belittle  our 
love  with  this  kind  of  talk.  It's  all  so  material, 
so  sordid." 

"It's  not  sordid  to  me!"  she  cried,  stretching 
out  a  hand  to  him.  "Don't  be  angry,  Arnold. 
Try  to  understand  me  —  please  do,  please  do. 
Work  is  a  necessity  of  life  to  you.  It  is  also 
a  necessity  of  life  to  me.  I'm  fighting  with 


286  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

you  for  the  right  to  work.  I'm  fighting  with 
you  for  my  life!" 

"Then  you  place  work,  your  career,  above  our 
happiness  together?"  he  demanded  angrily. 

"Not  at  all,"  she  went  on  rapidly,  pleadingly. 
"But  I  see  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be 
both.  Our  happiness  should  be  all  the  greater 
because  of  my  work.  I've  studied  myself, 
Arnold,  and  I  know  what  I  need.  To  be 
thoroughly  happy,  I  need  work;  useful  work, 
work  that  interests  me.  I  tell  you  we'll  be 
happier,  and  our  happiness  will  last  longer,  if 
only  you  let  me  work.  I  know!  I  know!" 

"Dream  stuff!  You're  following  a  mere 
will-o'-the-wisp ! " 

"That's  what  women  have  been  following 
in  the  past,"  she  returned  breathlessly.  "Look 
among  your  married  friends.  How  many 
ideally  happy  couples  can  you  count?  Very, 
very  few.  And  why  are  there  so  few?  One 
reason  is,  because  the  man  finds,  after  the 
novelty  is  worn  off,  that  his  wife  is  uninteresting, 
has  nothing  to  talk  about;  and  so  his  love  cools 
to  a  good-natured,  passive  tolerance  of  her. 
Most  married  men,  when  alone  with  their 
wives,  sit  in  stupid  silence.  But  see  how  the 
husband  livens  up  if  a  man  joins  them!  This 
man  has  been  out  in  the  interesting  world. 
The  wife  has  been  cooped  up  at  home.  The 
man  has  something  to  talk  about.  The  wife 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  287 

has  not.  Well,  I  am  going  to  be  out  in  the 
interesting  world,  doing  something.  I  am  going 
to  have  something  to  talk  to  my  husband  about. 
I  am  going  to  be  interesting  to  him,  as  interest- 
ing to  him  as  any  man.  And  I  am  going  to 
try  to  hold  his  love,  Arnold,  the  love  of  his 
heart,  the  love  of  his  head,  to  the  very  end!" 

He  was  exasperated  by  her  persistence,  but 
he  still  held  himself  in  check. 

"That  sounds  very  plausible  to  you.  But 
there  is  one  thing  in  your  argument  you  forget." 

"And  that?" 

"We  are  grown-up  people,  you  and  I.  I 
guess  we  can  talk  straight  out." 

"Yes.     Go  on!" 

He  gazed  at  her  very  steadily  for  a  moment. 

"There  are  such  things  as  children,  you 
know." 

She  returned  his  steady  look. 

"Of  course,"  she  said  quickly.  "Every 
normal  woman  wants  children.  And  I  should 
want  them  too." 

"There  —  that  settles  it,"  he  said  with  tri- 
umph. "You  can't  combine  children  and  a 
profession." 

"But  I  can!"  she  cried.  "And  I  should 
give  the  children  the  very  best  possible  care, 
too!  Of  course  there  are  successive  periods  in 
which  the  mother  would  have  to  give  her  whole 
attention  to  the  children.  But  if  she  lives 


288  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

till  she  is  sixty-five  the  sum  total  of  her  forty 
or  forty-five  married  years  that  she  has  to 
give  up  wholly  to  her  children  amounts  to  but 
a  few  years.  There  remains  all  the  balance  of 
her  life  that  she  could  give  to  other  work.  Do 
you  realize  how  tremendously  the  world  is 
changing,  and  how  women's  work  is  changing 
with  it?" 

"Oh,  let's  don't  mix  in  statistics,  and  history, 
and  economics  with  our  love!" 

"But  we've  got  to  if  our  love  is  to  last!" 
she  cried.  "We're  living  in  a  time  when  things 
are  changing.  We've  got  to  consider  the 
changes.  And  the  greatest  changes  are,  and 
are  going  to  be,  in  woman's  work.  Up  in  our 
attic  are  my  great-grandmother's  wool  carders, 
her  spinning  wheel,  her  loom,  all  sorts  of  things; 
she  spun,  wove,  made  all  the  clothing,  did 
everything.  These  things  are  now  done  by 
professional  experts;  that  sort  of  work  has 
been  taken  away  from  woman.  Now  all  that's 
left  for  the  woman  to  do  in  the  home  is  to  cook, 
clean,  and  care  for  children.  Life  is  still  chang- 
ing. We  are  still  developing.  Some  time 
these  things  too  will  be  done,  and  better  done, 
by  professional  experts  —  though  just  how,  or 
just  when,  I  can't  even  guess.  Once  there  was 
a  strong  sentiment  against  the  child  being 
taken  from  the  mother  and  being  sent  to 
school.  Now  most  intelligent  parents  are  glad 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  289 

to  put  their  children  in  charge  of  trained  kinder- 
gartners  at  four  or  five.  And  in  the  future 
some  new  institution,  some  new  variety  of 
trained  specialist,  may  develop  that  will  take 
charge  of  the  child  for  a  part  of  the  day  at  an 
even  earlier  age.  That's  the  way  the  world 
is  moving!" 

"Thanks  for  your  lecture  on  the  Rise,  Prog- 
ress and  Future  of  Civilization,"  he  said 
ironically,  trying  to  suppress  himself.  "But 
interesting  as  it  was,  it  has  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  the  case.  We're  not  talking  about 
civilization,  and  the  universe,  and  evolution, 
and  the  fourth  dimension,  and  who's  got  the 
button.  We're  talking  about  you  and  me. 
About  you  and  me,  and  our  love." 

"Yes,  Arnold,  about  you  and  me  and  our 
love,"  she  cried  eagerly.  "I  spoke  of  these 
things  only  because  they  concern  you  and  me 
and  our  love  so  very,  very  much." 

"Of  all  things  for  two  lovers  to  talk  about!" 
he  exclaimed  with  mounting  exasperation. 

"They  are  the  things  of  all  things!  For  our 
love,  our  life,  hangs  upon  them!" 

"Well,  anyhow,  you  haven't  got  these  new 
institutions,  these  new  experts,"  he  rfetorted, 
brushing  the  whole  matter  aside.  "You're  liv- 
ing to-day,  not  in  the  millennium!" 

"I  know,  I  know.  In  the  meantime,  life 
for  us  women  is  in  a  stage  of  transition.  Until 


290  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

these  better  forms  develop  we  are  going  to 
have  a  hard  time.  It  will  be  difficult  for  me 
to  manage,  I  know.  But  I'm  certain  I  can 
manage  it." 

He  stood  up.  His  face  was  very  red,  and  he 
swallowed  once  or  twice  before  the  words  seemed 
able  to  come  out. 

"I'm    surprised,    Katherine  —  surprised!  — 
that  you  should  be  so  persistent  in  this  non- 
sense.    What   you    say   is    all    against  nature. 
It  won't  work." 

"Perhaps  not.  But  at  least  you'll  let  me 
try!  That's  all  I  ask  of  you  —  that  you  let 
me  try!" 

"It  would  be  weak  in  me,  wrong  in  me,  to 
yield." 

"Then  you're  not  willing  to  give  me  a  chance?" 

He  shook  his  head. 

She  rose  and  moved  before  him. 

"But,  Arnold,  do  you  realize  what  you  are 
doing?"  she  cried  with  desperate  passion.  "Do 
you  realize  what  it  is  I'm  asking  you  for? 
Work,  interesting  work  —  that's  what  I  need 
to  make  me  happy,  to  make  you  happy! 
Without  it,  I  shall  be  miserable,  and  you  will 
be  miserable  in  having  a  miserable  wife  about 
you  —  and  all  our  years  together  will  be  years 
of  misery.  So  you  see  what  a  lot  I'm  fighting 
for:  work,  development,  happiness!  —  the 
happiness  of  all  our  married  years!" 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  291 

"That's  only  a  delusion.  For  your  sake, 
and  my  sake,  I've  got  to  stand  firm." 

"Then  you  will  not  let  me?" 

"I  will  not." 

She  stared  palely  at  his  square,  adamantine 
face. 

"Arnold! "  she  breathed.  "Arnold!  —  do  you 
know  what  you're  trying  to  do?" 

"I   am  trying  to  save  you  from  yourself!" 

"You're  trying  to  break  my  will  across  yours," 
she  cried  a  little  wildly.  "You're  trying  to 
crush  me  into  the  iron  mould  of  your  idea  of  a 
woman.  You're  trying  to  kill  me  —  yes,  to 
kill  me." 

"I  am  trying  to  save  you!"  he  repeated,  his 
temper  breaking  its  frail  leash.  "Your  ideas 
are  all  wrong  —  absurd  —  insane!" 

"  Please  don't  be  angry,  Arnold ! "  she  pleaded. 

"How  can  I  help  it,  when  you  won't  listen 
to  reason!  When  you  are  so  perversely  obsti- 
nate!" 

"I'm  not  obstinate,"  she  cried  breathlessly, 
holding  one  of  his  hands  tightly  in  both  her 
own.  "I'm  just  trying  to  cling  as  hard  as  I 
can  to  life  —  to  our  happiness.  Please  give 
me  a  chance,  Arnold!  Please,  please!" 

"Confound  such  obstinate  wrong-headed- 
ness!"  he  exploded.  "No,  I  tell  you!  No! 
And  that  settles  it!" 

She  shrank  back. 


292  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Oh!"  she  cried.  Her  breast  began  to  rise 
and  fall  tumultuously,  and  her  cheeks  slowly 
to  redden.  "Oh!"  she  cried  again.  Then  her 
words  leaped  hotly  out:  "Oh,  you  bigot!" 

"If  to  stand  by  what  I  know  is  right,  and  to 
save  you  from  making  a  fool  of  yourself,  is  to 
be  a  bigot  —  then  I'm  a  bigot  all  right,  and  I 
thank  the  God  that  made  me  one!" 

"And  you  think  you  are  going  to  save  me 
from  myself?"  she  demanded. 

He  stepped  nearer,  and  towering  over  her, 
he  took  hold  of  her  shoulders  in  a  powerful  grasp 
and  looked  down  upon  her  dominantly. 

"I  know  I  am!  I  am  going  to  make  you 
exactly  what  I  want  you  to  be!" 

Her  eyes  flamed  back  up  into  his. 

"Because  you  are  the  stronger?" 

"Because  I  am  the  stronger  —  and  because 
I  am  right,"  he  returned  grimly. 

"I  admit  that  you  are  the  superior  brute," 
she  said  with  fierce  passion.  "But  you  will 
never  break  me  to  your  wishes!" 

"And  I  tell  you  I  will  I" 

"And  I  tell  you  you  will  not!" 

There  was  a  strange  and  new  fire  in  her  eyes. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  he  asked. 

"I  mean  this,"  she  returned,  and  the  hands 
that  gripped  her  shoulders  felt  her  tremble 
through  all  her  body.  "I  should  not  expect 
you  to  marry  a  woman  who  was  so  unreasonable 


WHEN  GREEK  MEETS  GREEK  293 

as  to  demand  that  you,  for  her  sake,  should 
give  up  your  loved  career.  And,  for  my  part, 
I  shall  never  marry  a  man  so  unreasonable  as 
to  make  the  same  demand  of  me." 

He  fell  back  a  pace. 

"You    mean " 

"Was  I  not  plain  enough?  I  mean  that 
you  will  never  have  the  chance  to  crush  me 
into  your  iron  mould,  for  I  will  never  marry 
you." 

"What!"  And  then:  "So  I'm  fired,  am  I?" 
he  grated  out. 

"Yes,  for  you're  as  narrow  and  as  conven- 
tional as  the  rest  of  men,"  she  rushed  on  hotly. 
"You  never  say  a  word  so  long  as  a  woman's 
work  is  unpleasant!  It's  all  right  for  her  to 
scrub,  and  wash  dishes,  and  wear  her  life  away 
in  factories.  But  as  soon  as  she  wants  to  do 
any  work  that  is  pleasant  and  interesting  and 
that  will  gain  her  recognition,  you  cry  out  that 
she's  unwomanly,  unsexed,  that  she's  flying 
in  the  face  of  God!  Oh,  you  are  perfectly 
willing  that  woman,  on  the  one  hand,  should 
be  a  drudge,  or  on  the  other  the  pampered 
pet  of  your  one-woman  harem.  But  I  shall 
be  neither,  I  tell  you .  Never !  Never !  Never ! " 

They  stared  at  one  another,  trembling  with 
passion. 

"And  you,"  he  said  with  all  the  fierce  irony 
of  his  soul,  "and  you,  I  suppose,  will  now  go 


294  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

ahead  and  clear  your  father,  expose  Blake,  and 
perform  all  those  other  wonders  you've  talked 
so  big  about!" 

"That's  just  what  I  am  going  to  do!"  she 
cried  defiantly. 

"And  that's  just  what  you  are  not!"  he 
blazed  back.  "I  may  have  admired  the  woman 
in  you  —  but,  for  those  things,  you  have  not 
the  smallest  atom  of  ability.  Your  father's 
trial,  your  failure  to  get  evidence  —  hasn't 
that  shown  you  ?  You  are  going  to  be  a  failure 
—  a  fizzle  —  a  fiasco!  Did  you  hear  that? 
A  pitiable,  miserable,  humiliated  fiasco!  And 
time  will  prove  it!" 

"We'll  see  what  time  will  prove!"  And 
she  swept  furiously  past  him  out  of  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A    SPECTRE    COMES    TO    TOWN 

FOR  many  an  hour  Katharine's  wrath 
continued  high,  and  she  repeated,  with 
clinched  hands,  all  her  invectives  against 
the  bigotry  of  Bruce.  He  was  a  bully  —  a 
boor  —  a  brute  —  a  tyrant.  He  considered 
himself  the  superman.  And  in  pitiable  truth 
he  was  only  a  moral  coward  —  for  his  real 
reason  in  opposing  her  had  been  that  he  was 
afraid  to  have  Westville  say  that  his  wife 
worked.  And  he  had  insulted  her,  for  his 
parting  words  to  her  had  been  a  jeering  state- 
ment that  she  had  no  ability,  only  a  certain 
charm  of  sex.  How,  oh,  how,  had  she  ever 
imagined  that  they  two  might  possibly  share 
a  happy  life  together? 

But  after  a  season  her  wrath  began  to  sub- 
side, and  she  began  to  see  that  after  all  Bruce 
was  no  very  different  man  from  the  Bruce  she 
had  loved  the  last  few  weeks.  He  had  been 
thoroughly  consistent  with  himself.  She  had 
known  that  he  was  cocksure  and  domineering. 
She  had  foreseen  that  the  chances  were  at  least 

295 


296  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

equal  that  he  would  take  the  position  he  had. 
She  had  foreseen  and  feared  this  very  issue. 
His  virtues  were  just  as  big  as  on  yesterday, 
when  she  and  he  had  thought  of  marriage, 
and  his  faults  were  no  greater.  And  she  real- 
ized, after  the  first  passion  of  their  battle 
had  spent  its  force,  that  she  still  loved  him. 

In  the  long  hours  of  the  night  a  pang  of 
emptiness,  of  vast,  irretrievable  loss,  possessed 
her.  She  and  Love  had  touched  each  other 
for  a  space  —  then  had  flung  violently  apart, 
and  were  speeding  each  in  their  eternally  sep- 
arate direction.  Life  for  her  might  be  rich  and 
full  of  honour  and  achievement,  but  as  she  looked 
forward  into  the  long  procession  of  years,  she 
saw  that  life  was  going  to  have  its  dreariness,  its 
vacancies,  its  dull,  unending  aches.  It  was 
going  to  be  such  a  very,  very  different  busi- 
ness from  that  life  of  work  and  love  and  home 
and  mutual  aid  she  had  daringly  dreamed  of 
during  the  two  weeks  she  and  Bruce  had  been 
lovers. 

But  she  did  not  regret  her  decision.  She 
did  not  falter.  Her  resentment  of  Bruce's 
attitude  stiffened  the  backbone  of  her  purpose. 
She  was  going  straight  ahead,  bear  the  bitter- 
ness, and  live  the  life  she  had  planned  as  best 
she  could. 

But  there  quickly  came  other  matters  to 
share  her  mind  with  a  lost  love  and  a  broken 


A  SPECTRE  COMES  TO  TOWN  297 

dream.  First  was  the  uproar  created  by  Brace's 
defiant  announcement  in  the  Express  of  Blind 
Charlie's  threatened  treachery.  That  sen- 
sation reigned  for  a  day  or  two,  then  was 
almost  forgotten  in  a  greater.  This  second  sen- 
sation made  its  initial  appearance  quite  unob- 
trusively; it  had  a  bare  dozen  lines  down  in  a 
corner  of  the  same  issue  of  the  Express  that 
had  contained  Bruce's  defiance  and  Doctor  Sher- 
man's departure.  The  substance  of  the  item 
was  that  two  cases  of  illness  had  been  reported 
from  the  negro  quarter  in  River  Court,  and  that 
the  doctors  said  the  symptoms  were  similar  to 
those  of  typhoid  fever. 

Those  two  cases  of  fever  in  that  old  frame 
tenement  up  a  narrow,  stenchy  alley  were  the 
quiet  opening  of  a  new  act  in  the  drama  that  was 
played  that  year  in  Westville.  The  next  day 
a  dozen  cases  were  reported,  and  now  the 
doctors  unhesitatingly  pronounced  them  ty- 
phoid. The  number  mounted  rapidly.  Soon 
there  were  a  hundred.  Soon  there  was  an 
epidemic.  And  the  Spectre  showd  no  deference 
to  rank.  It  not  only  stalked  into  the  tene- 
ments of  River  Court  and  Railroad  Alley — 
and  laid  its  felling  finger  on  starveling  children 
and  drink-shattered  men  —  It  visited  the 
large  and  airy  homes  on  Elm  and  Maple 
Streets  and  Wabash  Avenue,  where  those  of 
wealth  and  place  were  congregated. 


298  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

In  Westville  was  the  Reign  of  Terror.  Hag- 
gard doctors  were  ever  on  the  go,  snatching  a 
bite  or  a  moment's  sleep  when  chance  allowed. 
Till  then,  modern  history  had  been  reckoned 
in  Westville  from  the  town's  invasion  by  fac- 
tories, or  from  that  more  distant  time  when 
lightning  had  struck  the  Court  House.  But 
those  milestones  of  time  are  to-day  forgotten. 
Local  history  is  now  dated,  and  will  be  for 
many  a  decade,  from  the  "Days  of  Fever" 
and  the  related  events  which  marked  that 
epoch. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  epidemic  Katherine 
heard  one  morning  that  Elsie  Sherman  had  just 
been  stricken.  She  had  seen  little  of  Elsie 
during  the  last  few  weeks;  the  strain  of  their 
relation  was  too  great  to  permit  the  old  pleasure 
in  one  another's  company;  but  at  this  news 
she  hastened  to  Elsie's  bedside.  Her  arrival 
was  a  God-send  to  the  worn  and  hurried  Doctor 
Woods,  who  had  just  been  called  in.  She  tele- 
graphed to  Indianapolis  for  a  nurse;  she  tele- 
graphed to  a  sister  of  Doctor  Sherman  to  come; 
and  she  herself  undertook  the  care  of  Elsie 
until  the  nurse  should  arrive. 

"What  do  you  think  of  her  case,  Doctor?" 
she  asked  anxiously  when  Doctor  Woods 
dropped  in  again  later  in  the  day. 

He  shook  his  head. 

"Mrs.  Sherman  is  very  frail." 


A  SPECTRE  COMES  TO  TOWN  299 

"Then  you  think " 

"I'm  afraid  it  will  be  a  hard  fight.  I  think 
we'd  better  send  for  her  husband." 

Despite  her  sympathy  for  Elsie,  Katherine 
thrilled  with  the  possibility  suggested  by  the 
doctor's  words.  Here  was  a  situation  that 
should  bring  Doctor  Sherman  out  of  his  hiding, 
if  anything  could  bring  him.  Once  home,  and 
unnerved  by  the  sight  of  his  wife  precariously 
balanced  between  life  and  death,  she  was  certain 
that  he  would  break  down  and  confess  what- 
ever he  might  know. 

She  asked  Elsie  for  her  husband's  where- 
abouts, but  Elsie  answered  that  she  had  had 
letters  but  that  he  had  never  given  an  address. 
Katherine  at  once  determined  to  see  Blake, 
and  demand  to  know  where  Doctor  Sherman 
was;  and  after  the  nurse  arrived  on  an  after- 
noon train,  she  set  out  for  Blake's  office. 

But  Blake  was  out,  and  his  return  was  not 
expected  for  an  hour.  To  fill  in  the  time,  Kath- 
erine paid  a  visit  to  her  father  in  the  jail.  She 
told  him  of  Elsie's  illness,  and  told  at  greater 
length  than  she  had  yet  had  chance  to  do  about 
the  epidemic.  In  his  turn  he  talked  to  her 
about  the  fever's  causes;  and  when  she  left 
the  jail  and  returned  to  Blake's  office  an  idea 
far  greater  than  merely  asking  Doctor  Sherman's 
whereabouts  was  in  her  mind. 

This  time  she  was  told  that  Blake  was  in, 


300  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

but  could  see  no  one.  Undeterred  by  this 
statement,  Katherine  walked  quickly  past 
the  stenographer  and  straight  for  his  private 
door,  which  she  quickly  and  quietly  opened  and 
closed. 

Blake  was  sitting  at  his  desk,  his  head  bowed 
forward  in  one  hand.  He  was  so  deep  in 
thought,  and  she  had  entered  so  quietly,  that 
he  had  not  heard  her.  She  crossed  to  his  desk, 
stood  opposite  him,  and  for  a  moment  gazed 
down  upon  his  head. 

"Mr.  Blake,"  she  remarked  at  length. 

He  started  up. 

"You  here!"  he  ejaculated. 

"Yes.     I  came  to  talk  to  you." 

He  did  not  speak  at  once,  but  stood  staring 
a  little  wildly  at  her.  She  had  not  spoken  to 
him  since  the  day  of  her  father's  trial,  nor  seen 
him  save  at  a  distance.  She  was  now  startled 
at  the  change  this  closer  view  revealed  to  her. 
His  eyes  were  sunken  and  ringed  with  purple, 
his  face  seemed  worn  and  thin,  and  had  taken 
on  a  tinge  of  yellowish-green. 

"I  left  orders  that  I  could  see  no  one,"  he 
said,  trying  to  speak  sharply. 

"I  know,"  she  answered  quietly.  "But 
you'll  see  me." 

For  an  instant  he  hesitated. 

"Very  well  —  sit  down,"  he  said,  resuming 
his  chair.  "Now  what  is  it  you  wish?" 


A  SPECTRE  COMES  TO  TOWN  301 

She  seated  herself  and  leaned  across  the  desk 
toward  him. 

"I  wish  to  talk  to  you  about  the  fever,"  she 
said  with  her  former  composure,  and  looking 
him  very  steadily  in  the  eyes.  "I  suppose 
you  know  what  caused  it?" 

"I  am  no  doctor.     I  do  not." 

"Then  let  me  tell  you.  My  father  has  just 
told  me  that  there  must  have  been  a  case  of 
typhoid  during  the  summer  somewhere  back 
in  the  drainage  area  of  the  water-system.  That 
recent  big  storm  carried  the  summer's  accumu- 
lation of  germ-laden  filth  down  into  the  streams. 
And  since  the  city  was  unguarded  by  a  filter, 
those  germs  were  swept  into  the  water-mains,  we 
drank  them,  and  the  epidemic " 

"That  filter  was  useless  —  a  complete  fail- 
ure!" Blake  broke  in  rather  huskily. 

"You  know,  Mr.  Blake,  and  I  know,"  she 
returned,  "that  that  filter  has  been,  and  still 
is,  in  excellent  condition.  And  you  know,  and 
I  know,  that  if  it  had  been  in  operation,  purify- 
ing the  water,  there  might  possibly  have  been 
a  few  cases  of  typhoid,  but  there  would  never 
have  been  this  epidemic.  That's  the  God's 
truth,  and  you  know  it!" 

He  swallowed,  but  did  not  answer  her. 

"I  suppose,"  she  pursued  in  her  steady  tone, 
"you  realize  who  is  responsible  for  all  these 
scores  of  sick?" 


302  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"If  what  you  say  is  true,  then  your  father 
is  guilty,  for  building  such  a  filter." 

"You  know  better.  You  know  that  the 
guilty  man  is  yourself." 

His  face  grew  more  yellowish-green. 

"It's  not  so!  No  one  is  more  appalled  by 
this  disaster  than  I  am!" 

"I  know  you  are  appalled  by  the  outcome. 
You  did  not  plan  to  murder  citizens.  You 
only  planned  to  defraud  the  city.  But  this 
epidemic  is  the  direct  consequence  of  your 
scheme.  Every  person  who  is  now  in  a  sick 
bed,  you  put  that  person  there.  Every  person 
who  may  later  go  to  his  grave,  you  will  have 
sent  that  person  there." 

Her  steady  voice  grew  more  accusing. 
"What  does  your  conscience  say  to  you? 
And  what  do  you  think  the  people  will  say 
to  you,  to  the  great  public-spirited  Mr.  Blake, 
when  they  learn  that  you,  prompted  by  the 
desire  for  money  and  power,  have  tried  to  rob 
the  city  and  have  stricken  hundreds  with 
sickness?" 

His  yellowish  face  contorted  most  horribly, 
but  he  did  not  answer. 

"I  see  that  your  conscience  has  been  asking 
you  those  same  questions,"  Katherine  pursued. 
"It  is  something,  at  least,  that  your  conscience 
is  not  dead.  Those  are  not  pleasant  questions 
to  have  asked  one,  are  they?" 


A  SPECTRE  COMES  TO  TOWN  303 

Again  his  face  twisted,  but  he  seemed  to 
gather  hold  of  himself. 

"You  are  as  crazy  as  ever  —  that's  all  rot!'* 
he  said  huskily,  with  a  denying  sweep  of  a 
clinched  hand.  "But  what  do  you  want?" 

"Three  things.  First,  that  you  have  the  filter 
put  back  in  commission.  Let's  at  least  do  what 
we  can  to  prevent  any  more  danger  from  that 
source." 

"The  filter  is  useless.  Besides,  I  am  no 
official,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  it." 

"It  is  in  perfect  condition,  and  you  have 
everything  to  do  with  it,"  she  returned  steadily. 

He  swallowed.  "I'll  suggest  it  to  the 
mayor." 

"Very  well;  that  is  settled.  To  the  next 
point.  Have  you  heard  that  Mrs.  Sherman 
is  sick?" 

"Yes." 

"She  wants  her  husband." 

"Well?" 

"My  second  demand  is  to  know  where  you 
have  hidden  Doctor  Sherman." 

"Doctor  Sherman?  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with  Doctor  Sherman!" 

"You  also  have  everything  to  do  with  Doctor 
Sherman,"  she  returned  steadily.  "He  is  one 
of  the  instruments  of  your  plot.  You  feared 
that  he  would  break  down  and  confess,  and  so 
you  sent  him  out  of  the  way.  Where  is  he?" 


304  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Again  his  face  worked  spasmodically.  "I 
tell  you  once  more  I  have  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  Doctor  Sherman !  Now  I  hope  that's 
all.  I  am  tired  of  this.  I  have  other  matters 
to  consider.  Good  day." 

"No,  it  is  not  all.  For  there  is  my  third 
demand.  And  that  is  the  most  important  of 
the  three.  But  perhaps  I  should  not  say  de- 
mand. What  I  make  you  is  an  offer." 

"An  offer?"  he  exclaimed. 

She  did  not  reply  to  him  directly.  She 
leaned  a  little  farther  across  his  desk  and  looked 
at  him  with  an  even  greater  intentness. 

"  I  do  not  need  to  ask  you  to  pause  and  think 
upon  all  the  evil  you  have  done  the  town," 
she  •  said  slowly.  "For  you  have  thought. 
You  were  thinking  at  the  moment  I  came  in. 
I  can  see  that  you  are  shaken  with  horror  at 
the  unforeseen  results  of  your  scheme.  I  have 
come  to  you  to  take  sides  with  your  conscience; 
to  join  it  in  asking  you,  urging  you,  to  draw 
back  and  set  things  as  nearly  right  as  you  can. 
That  is  my  demand,  my  offer,  my  plea  —  call 
it  what  you  will." 

He  had  been  gazing  at  her  with  wide  fixed 
eyes.  When  he  spoke,  his  voice  was  dry, 
mechanical. 

"Set  things  right?     How?" 

"Come  forward,  confess,  and  straighten  out 
the  situation  of  your  own  accord.  Westville 


A  SPECTRE  COMES  TO  TOWN  305 

is  in  a  terrible  condition.  If  you  act  at  once, 
you  can  at  least  do  something  to  relieve  it." 

"By  setting  things  right,  as  you  call  it,  you 
of  course  include  the  clearing  of  your  father?" 

"The  clearing  of  my  father,  of  course.  And 
let  me  say  to  you,  Mr.  Blake  —  and  for  this 
moment  I  am  speaking  as  your  friend  —  that 
it  will  be  better  for  you  to  clear  this  whole 
matter  up  voluntarily,  at  once,  than  to  be 
exposed  later,  as  you  certainly  will  be.  To 
clear  this  matter  at  once  may  have  the  result 
of  simplifying  the  fight  against  the  epidemic  — 
it  may  save  many  lives.  That  is  what  I  am 
thinking  of  first  of  all  just  now." 

"You  mean  to  say,  then,  that  it  is  either 
confess  or  be  exposed?" 

"There  is  no  use  in  my  beating  about  the 
bush  with  you,"  she  replied  in  her  same  steady 
tone.  "For  I  know  that  you  know  that  I 
am  after  you." 

He  did  not  speak  at  once.  He  sat  gazing 
fixedly  at  her,  with  twitching  face.  She  met 
his  gaze  without  blinking,  breathlessly  awaiting 
his  reply. 

Suddenly  a  tremor  ran  through  him  and 
his  face  set  with  desperate  decision. 

"Yes,  I  know  you  are  after  me!  I  know 
you  are  having  me  followed  —  spied  upon!" 
There  was  a  biting,  contemptuous  edge  to  his 
tone,  "Even  if  I  were  guilty,  do  you  think 


3o6  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

I  would  be  afraid  of  exposure  from  you?  Oh, 
I  know  the  man  you  have  sleuthing  about  on 
my  trail.  Elijah  Stone!  And  I  once  thought 
you  were  a  clever  girl!" 

"You  refuse,  then?"  she  said  slowly. 

"I  do!  And  I  defy  you!  If  your  accusa-* 
tions  against  me  are  true,  go  out  and  proclaim 
them  to  the  city.  I'm  willing  to  stand  for 
whatever  happens!" 

She  regarded  his  flushed,  defiant  face.  She 
perceived  clearly  that  she  had  failed,  that  it 
was  useless  to  try  further. 

"Very  well,"  she  said  slowly.  "But  I  want 
you  to  remember  in  the  future  that  I  have 
given  you  this  chance;  that  I  have  given  you 
your  choice,  and  you  have  chosen." 

"And  I  tell  you  again  that  I  defy  you!" 

"You  are  a  more  hardened  man,  or  a  more 
desperate  man,  than  I  thought,"  said  she. 

He  did  not  reply  upon  the  instant,  but  sat 
gazing  into  her  searching  eyes.  Before  he 
could  speak,  the  telephone  at  his  elbow  began 
to  ring.  He  picked  it  up. 

"Hello!  Yes,  this  is  Mr.  Blake.  .  .  . 
Her  temperature  is  the  same,  you  say?  .  .  . 
No,  I  have  not  had  an  answer  yet.  I  expect 
a  telegram  any  minute.  I'll  let  you  know  as 
soon  as  it  comes.  Good-by." 

"Is  some  one  sick?"  Katherine  asked,  as  he 
hung  up  the  receiver. 


A  SPECTRE  COMES  TO  TOWN  307 

"My  mother,"  he  returned  briefly,  his  recent 
defiance  all  gone. 

Katherine,  too,  for  the  moment,  forgot  their 
conflict. 

"I  did  not  know  it.  There  are  so  many 
cases,  you  know.  Who  is  attending  her?" 

"Doctor  Hunt,  temporarily,"  he  answered. 
"But  these  Westville  doctors  are  all  amateurs 
in  serious  cases.  I've  telegraphed  for  a 
specialist  —  the  best  man  I  could  hear  of  — 
Doctor  Brenholtz  of  Chicago." 

His  defiance  suddenly  returned. 

"If  I  have  seemed  to  you  worn,  unnerved, 
now  you  know  the  real  cause!"  he  said. 

"So,"  she  remarked  slowly,  "the  disaster 
you  have-  brought  on  Westville  has  struck  your 
own  home!" 

His  face  twitched  convulsively. 

"I  believe  we  have  finished  our  conversation. 
Good  afternoon." 

Katherine    rose. 

"And  if  she  dies,  you  know  who  will  have 
killed  her." 

He  sprang  up. 

"Go!     Go!"  he  cried. 

But  she  remained  in  her  tracks,  looking  him 
steadily  in  the  eyes.  While  they  stood  so, 
the  stenographer  entered  and  handed  him  a 
telegram.  He  tore  it  open,  glanced  it  through, 
and  stood  staring  at  it  in  a  kind  of  stupor. 


308  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"My  God!"  he  breathed. 

He  tore  the  yellow  sheet  across,  dropped  the 
pieces  in  the  waste-basket  and  began  to  pace 
his  room,  on  his  face  a  wild,  dazed  look.  He 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  Katherine's  presence. 
But  a  turn  brought  her  into  his  vision.  He 
stopped  short. 

"You  still  here?" 

"I  was  waiting  to  hear  if  Doctor  Brenholtz 
was  coming,"  she  said. 

He  stared  at  her  a  moment.  Then  he  crossed 
to  his  desk,  took  the  two  fragments  of  the 
telegram  from  his  waste-basket  and  held  them 
out  to  her. 

"There  is  what  he  says." 

She  took  the  telegram  and  read : 

"No  use  my  coming.  Best  man  on  typhoid 
in  West  lives  in  your  own  town.  See  Dr. 
David  West." 

Katherine  laid  down  the  yellow  pieces  and 
raised  her  eyes  to  Blake's  white,  strained  face. 
The  two  gazed  at  each  other  for  a  long  moment. 

"Well?"   he  said  huskily. 

"Well?"  she  quietly  returned. 

"Do  you  think  I  can  get  him?" 

"How  can  you  get  a  man  who  is  serving  a 
sentence  in  jail?" 

"If  I  — if  I "  He  could  not  get  the 

words  out. 


A  SPECTRE  COMES  TO  TOWN  309 

"Yes.      If    you    confess  —  clear    him  —  get 
him  out  of  jail  —  of  course  he  will  treat  the 


case." 


"I  didn't  mean  that!  God!"  he  cried,  "is 
confession  of  a  thing  I  never  did  the  fee  you 
exact  for  saving  a  life?" 

"What,  you  still  hold  out?" 

"I'm  not  guilty!     I  tell  you,  I'm  not  guilty!" 

"Then  you'll  not  confess?" 

"Never!     Never!" 

"Not  even  to  save  your  mother?" 

"She's  sick  —  very  sick.  But  she's  not 
going  to  die  —  I'll  not  let  her  die!  Your 
father  does  not  have  to  be  cleared  to  get  out 
of  jail.  In  this  emergency  I  can  arrange  to  get 
him  out  for  a  time  on  parole.  What  do  you 
say?" 

She  gazed  at  the  desperate,  wildly  expectant 
figure.  A  little  shiver  ran  through  her. 

"What  do  you  say?"  he  repeated. 

"There  can  be  but  one  answer,"  she  replied. 
"My  father  is  too  big  a  man  to  demand  any 
price  for  his  medical  skill  —  even  the  restoration 
of  his  honest  name  by  the  man  who  stole  it. 
Parole  him,  and  he  will  go  instantly  to  Mrs. 
Blake." 

He  dropped  into  his  chair  and  seized  his 
telephone. 

"Central,  give  me  six-o-four  —  quick!" 
There  was  a  moment  of  waiting.  "This  you, 


3io  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Judge  Kellog?  .  .  .  This  is  Harrison 
Blake.  I  want  you  to  arrange  the  proper 
papers  for  the  immediate  parole  of  Doctor 
West.  I'll  be  responsible  for  everything.  Am 
coming  right  over  and  will  explain." 

He  fairly  threw  the  receiver  back  upon  its 
hook.  "Your  father  will  be  free  in  an  hour," 
he  cried.  And  without  waiting  for  a  reply, 
he  seized  his  hat  and  hurried  out. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

BRUCE    TO    THE    FRONT 

KATHERINE  came  down  from  Blake's 
office  with  many  thoughts  surging 
through  her  brain:  Of  her  father's 
release  —  of  Blake's  obduracy  —  of  his  mother's 
illness;  but  at  the  forefront  of  them  all,  because 
demanding  immediate  action,  was  the  need  of 
finding  Doctor  Sherman. 

As  she  stepped  forth  from  the  stairway,  she 
saw  Arnold  Bruce  striding  along  the  Square 
in  her  direction.  There  was  a  sudden  leaping 
of  her  heart,  a  choking  at  her  throat.  But 
they  passed  each  other  with  the  short  cold  nod 
which  had  been  their  manner  of  greeting  during 
the  last  few  days  when  they  had  chanced  to 
meet. 

The  next  instant  a  sudden  impulse  seized 
her,  and  she  turned  about. 

"Mr.  Bruce,"  she  called  after  him. 

He  came  back  to  her.  His  face  was  rather 
pale,  but  was  doggedly  resolute.  Her  look 
was  not  very  different  from  his. 

"Yes,  Miss  West?"  said  he. 


3i2  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

For  a  moment  it  was  hard  for  her  to  speak. 
No  word,  only  that  frigid  nod,  had  passed  be- 
tween them  since  their  quarrel. 

"I  want  to  ask  you  something  —  and  tell 
you  something,"  she  said  coldly. 

"I  am  at  your  service,"  said  he. 

"We  cannot  talk  here.  Suppose  we  cross 
into  the  Court  House  yard?" 

In  silence  he  fell  into  step  beside  her.  They 
did  not  speak  until  they  were  in  the  yard  where 
passers-by  could  not  overhear  them. 

"You  know  of  Mrs.  Sherman's  illness?" 
she  began  in  a  distant,  formal  tone. 

"Yes." 

"It  promises  to  be  serious.  We  must  get 
her  husband  home  if  possible.  But  no  one  has 
his  address.  An  idea  for  reaching  him  has  been 
vaguely  in  my  head.  It  may  not  be  good,  but 
it  now  seems  the  only  way." 

"Do  you  mind  telling  me  what  it  is?" 

"Doctor  Sherman  is  somewhere  in  the  pine 
woods  of  the  North.  What  I  thought  about 
doing  was  to  order  some  Chicago  advertising 
agency  to  insert  notices  in  scores  of  small  dailies 
and  weeklies  up  North,  announcing  to  Doctor 
Sherman  his  wife's  illness  and  urging  him  to 
come  home.  My  hope  is  that  one  of  the  papers 
may  penetrate  whatever  remote  spot  he  may 
be  in  and  the  notice  reach  his  eyes.  What  I 
want  to  ask  you  is  the  name  of  an  agency." 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  313 

"Black  &  Graves  are  your  people,"  said  he. 

"Also  I  want  to  know  how  to  go  about  it  to 
get  prompt  action  on  their  part." 

"Write  out  the  notice  and  send  it  to  them 
with  your  instructions.  And  since  they  won't 
know  you,  better  enclose  a  draft  or  money  order 
on  account.  No,  don't  bother  about  the  money; 
you  won't  know  how  much  to  send.  I  know 
Phil  Black,  and  I'll  write  him  to-day  guarantee- 
ing the  account." 

"Thank  you,"  she  said. 

"You're  perfectly  welcome,"  said  he  with 
his  cold  politeness.  "Is  there  anything  else 
I  can  do?" 

"That's  all  about  that.  But  I  have  some- 
thing to  tell  you  —  a  suggestion  to  make  for 
your  campaign,  if  you  will  not  consider  it 
impertinent." 

"Quite  otherwise.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to 
get  it." 

"You  have  been  saying  in  your  speeches 
that  the  bad  water  has  been  due  to  intentional 
mismanagement  of  the  present  administration, 
which  is  ruled  by  Mr.  Blake,  for  the  purpose 
of  rendering  unpopular  the  municipal  owner- 
ship principle." 

"I  have,   and  it's  been  very  effective." 

"I  suggest  that  you  go  farther." 

"How?" 

"Make  the  fever  an  issue  of  the  campaign. 


3i4  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

The  people,  in  fact  all  of  us,  have  been  too 
excited,  too  frightened,  to  understand  the 
relation  between  the  bad  management  of  the 
water-works,  the  bad  water,  and  the  fever. 
Tell  them  that  relation.  Only  tell  it  carefully, 
by  insinuation  if  necessary,  so  that  you  will 
avoid  the  libel  law  —  for  you  have  no  proof 
as  yet.  Make  them  understand  that  the 
fever  is  due  to  bad  water,  which  in  turn  is 
due  to  bad  management  of  the  water-works, 
which  in  turn  is  due  to  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Blake." 

"Great!     Great!"   exclaimed   Bruce. 

"Oh,  the  idea  is  not  really  mine,"  she  said 
coldly.  "It  came  to  me  from  some  things  my 
father  told  me." 

Her  tone  recalled  to  him  their  chilly  relation- 
ship. 

"It's  a  regular  knock-out  idea,"  he  said 
stiffly.  "And  I'm  much  obliged  to  you.' 

They  had  turned  back  and  were  nearing 
the  gate  of  the  yard. 

"  I  hope  it  will  really  help  you  —  but  be 
careful  to  avoid  giving  them  an  opening  to 
bring  a  libel  charge.  Permit  me  to  say  that  you 
have  been  making  a  splendid  campaign." 

"Things  do  seem  to  be  coming  my  direction. 
The  way  I  threw  Blind  Charlie's  threat  back 
into  his  teeth,  that  has  made  a  great  hit.  I 
think  I  have  him  on  the  run." 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  315 

He  hesitated,  gave  her  a  sharp  look,  then 
added  rather  defiantly: 

"I  might  as  well  tell  you  that  in  a  few  days 
I  expect  to  have  Blake  also  on  the  run  —  in 
fact,  in  a  regular  gallop.  That  Indianapolis 
lawyer  friend  of  mine,  Wilson's  his  name,  is 
coming  here  to  help  me." 

"Oh!"    she    exclaimed. 

"You'll  remember,"  he  continued  in  his 
defiant  tone,  "that  I  once  told  you  that  your 
father's  case  was  not  your  case.  It's  the  city's. 
I'm  going  to  put  Wilson  on  it,  and  I  expect 
him  to  clear  it  all  up  in  short  order." 

She  could  not  hold  back  a  sudden  up-rush 
of  resentment. 

"So  then  it's  to  be  a  battle  between  us,  is 
it?"  she  demanded,  looking  him  straight  in 
the  face. 

"A  battle?     How?" 

"To  see  which  one  gets  the  evidence." 

"We've  got  to  get  it  —  that's  all,"  he 
answered  grimly. 

In  an  instant  she  had  resumed  control  of 
herself. 

"  I  hope  you  succeed,"  she  said  calmly.  "Good 
afternoon."  And  with  a  crisp  nod  she  turned 
away. 

Bruce's  action  in  calmly  taking  the  case  out 
of  her  hands,  which  was  in  effect  an  iteration 
of  his  statement  that  he  had  no  confidence  in 


316  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

her  ability,  stung  her  bitterly  and  for  a  space 
her  wrath  flamed  high.  But  there  were  too 
many  things  to  be  done  to  give  much  time  to 
mere  resentment.  She  wrote  the  letter  to 
the  Chicago  advertising  agency,  mailed  it, 
then  set  out  to  find  her  father.  At  the  jail  she 
was  told  that  he  had  been  released  and  had  left 
for  Blake's.  There  she  found  him.  He  came 
out  into  the  hall,  kissed  her  warmly,  then 
hurried  back  into  the  bedroom.  Katherine, 
glancing  through  the  open  door,  saw  him  move 
swiftly  about  the  old  gray-haired  woman,  while 
Blake  stood  in  strained  silence  looking  on. 

When  her  father  had  done  all  for  Mrs.  Blake 
he  could  do  at  that  time,  Katherine  hurried  him 
away  to  Elsie  Sherman.  He  replaced  the  very 
willing  Doctor  Woods,  who  knew  little  about 
typhoid,  and  assumed  charge  of  Elsie  with  all 
his  unerring  mastery  of  what  to  do.  He  gave 
her  his  very  best  skill,  and  he  hovered  about 
her  with  all  the  concern  that  the  illness  of  his 
own  child  might  have  evoked,  for  she  had  been 
a  warm  favourite  with  him  and  the  charges  of 
her  husband  had  in  no  degree  lessened  his 
regard.  Whatever  science  and  care  and  love 
could  do  for  her,  it  all  was  certain  to  be  done. 

Within  two  hours  after  Blake  had  received 
Doctor  Brenholtz's  telegram  its  contents  had 
flashed  about  the  town.  Doctor  West  was  be- 
sieged. The  next  day  found  him  treating  not  only 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  317 

as  many  individual  cases  as  his  strength  and  the 
hours  of  the  day  allowed,  but  found  him  in 
command  of  the  Board  of  Health's  fight  against 
the  plague,  with  all  the  rest  of  the  city's  doc- 
tors accepting  orders  from  him.  All  his  long 
life  of  incessant  study  and  experiment,  all 
those  long  years  when  he  had  been  laughed  at 
for  a  fool  and  jeered  at  for  a  failure  —  all  that 
time  had  been  but  an  unconscious  preparation 
for  this  great  fight  to  save  a  stricken  city. 
And  the  town,  for  all  its  hatred,  for  all  the 
stain  upon  his  name,  as  it  watched  this  slight, 
white-haired  man  go  so  swiftly  and  gently  and 
efficiently  about  his  work,  began  to  feel  for 
him  something  akin  to  awe  —  began  dimly  to 
feel  that  this  old  figure  whom  it  had  been  their 
habit  to  scorn  for  near  a  generation  was  per- 
haps their  greatest  man. 

While  Katherine  watched  this  fight  against 
the  fever  with  her  father  as  its  central  figure, 
while  she  awaited  in  suspense  some  results  of 
her  advertising  campaign,  and  while  she  tried 
to  press  forward  the  other  details  of  her  search 
for  evidence,  she  could  but  keep  her  eyes  upon 
the  mayoralty  campaign  —  for  it  was  mounting 
to  an  ever  higher  climax  of  excitement.  Bruce 
was  fighting  like  a  fury.  The  sensation  created 
by  his  announcement  of  Blind  Charlie's 
threatened  treachery  was  a  mere  nothing  com- 
pared to  the  uproar  created  when  he  informed  the 


3i8  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

people,  not  directly,  but  by  careful  insinuation, 
that  Blake  was  responsible  for  the  epidemic. 

Blake  denied  the  charge  with  desperate 
energy  and  with  all  his  power  of  eloquence; 
he  declared  that  the  epidemic  was  but  another 
consequence  of  that  supremest  folly  of  mankind, 
public  ownership.  He  was  angrily  supported 
by  his  party,  his  friends  and  his  followers  — 
but  those  followers  were  not  so  many  as  a  few 
short  weeks  before.  Passion  was  at  its  highest 
—  so  high  that  trustworthy  forecasts  of  the 
election  were  impossible.  But  ten  days  before 
election  it  was  freely  talked  about  the  streets, 
and  even  privately  admitted  by  some  of  Blake's 
best  friends,  that  nothing  but  a  miracle  could 
save  him  from  defeat. 

In  these  days  of  promise  Bruce  seemed  to 
pour  forth  an  even  greater  energy;  and  in  his 
efforts  he  was  now  aided  by  Mr.  Wilson,  the 
Indianapolis  lawyer,  who  was  spending  his 
entire  time  in  Westville.  Katherine  caught 
in  Brace's  face,  when  they  passed  upon  the 
street,  a  gleam  of  triumph  which  he  could  not 
wholly  suppress.  She  wondered,  with  a  pang 
of  jealousy,  if  he  and  Mr.  Wilson  were  succeeding 
where  she  had  failed  —  if  all  her  efforts  were 
to  come  to  nothing  —  if  her  ambition  to  demon- 
strate to  Bruce  that  she  could  do  things  was 
to  prove  a  mere  dream? 

Toward  noon  one  day,  as  she  was  walking 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  319 

along  the  Square  homeward  bound  from  Elsie 
Sherman's,  she  passed  Bruce  and  Mr.  Wilson 
headed  for  the  stairway  of  the  Express  Build- 
ing. Both  bowed  to  her,  then  Katherine  over- 
heard Bruce  say,  "I'll  be  with  you  in  a  minute, 
Wilson,"  and  the  next  instant  he  was  atherside. 

"Excuse  me,  Miss  West,"  he  said.  "But 
we  have  just  unearthed  something  which  I 
think  you  should  be  the  first  person  to  learn." 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  it,"  she  said  in  the 
cold,  polite  tone  they  reserved  for  one  another. 

"Let's  go  over  into  the  Court  House  yard." 

They  silently  crossed  the  street  and  entered 
the  comparative  seclusion  of  the  yard. 

"I  suppose  it  is  something  very  significant?" 
she  asked. 

"So  significant,"  he  burst  out,  "that  the 
minute  the  Express  appears  this  afternoon 
Harrison  Blake  is  a  has-been!" 

She  looked  at  him  quickly.  The  triumph 
she  had  of  late  seen  gleaming  in  his  face  was 
now  openly  blazing  there. 

"You  mean " 

"I  mean  that  I've  got  the  goods  on  him!" 

"You  —  you    have    evidence?" 

"The  best  sort  of  evidence!" 

"That  will   clear  my  father?" 

"Perhaps  not  directly.  Indirectly,  yes.  But 
it  will  smash  Blake  to  smithereens!" 

She  was  happy  on  Bruce's  account,  on  her 


320  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

father's,  on  the  city's,  but  for  the  moment  she 
was  sick  upon  her  own. 

" Is  the  nature  of  the  evidence  a  secret?" 

"The  whole  town  will  know  it  this  after- 
noon. I  asked  you  over  here  to  tell  you  first. 
I  have  just  secured  a  full  confession  from 
two  of  Blake's  accomplices." 

"Then  you've  discovered  Doctor  Sherman?" 
she  exclaimed. 

"Doctor  Sherman?"  He  stared  at  her.  "I 
don't  know  what  you  mean.  The  two  men 
are  the  assistant  superintendent  of  the  water- 
works and  the  engineer  at  the  pumping-plant." 

"How  did  you  get  at  them?" 

"Wilson  and  I  started  out  to  cross-examine 
everybody  who  might  be  in  the  remotest  way 
connected  with  the  case.  My  suspicion  against 
the  two  men  was  first  aroused  by  their  strained 
behaviour.  I  went " 

"Then  it  was  you  who  made  this  discovery, 
not  that  —  that  other  lawyer  ? " 

:'Yes,  I  was  the  first  to  tackle  the  pair, 
though  Wilson  has  helped  me.  He's  a  great 
lawyer,  Wilson.  We've  gone  at  them  relent- 
lessly —  with  accusation,  cross-examination, 
appeal;  with  the  result  that  this  morning  both 
of  them  broke  down  and  confessed  that  Blake 
had  secretly  paid  them  to  do  all  that  lay  within 
their  power  to  make  the  water-works  a  failure." 

They  followed  the  path  in  silence  for  several 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  321 

moments,  Katharine's  eyes  upon  the  ground. 
At  length  she  looked  up.  In  Bruce's  face  she 
plainly  read  what  she  had  guessed  to  be  an 
extra  motive  with  him  all  along,  a  glowering 
determination  to  crush  her,  humiliate  her,  a 
determination  to  cut  the  ground  from  beneath 
her  ambition  by  overturning  Blake  and  clear- 
ing her  father  without  her  aid. 

"And  so,"  she  breathed,  "you  have  made 
good  all  your  predictions.  You  have  succeeded 
and  I  have  failed." 

For  an  instant  his  square  face  glowed  upon 
her,  exultant  with  triumph.  Then  he  partially 
subdued  the  look. 

"We  won't  discuss  that  matter,"  he  said. 
"It's  enough  to  repeat  what  I  once  said,  that 
Wilson  is  a  crackerjack  lawyer." 

"All  the  same,  I  congratulate  you  —  and 
wish  you  every  success,"  she  said;  and  as  quickly 
thereafter  as  she  could  she  made  her  escape,  her 
heart  full  of  the  bitterness  of  personal  defeat. 

That  afternoon  the  Express,  in  its  largest 
type,  in  its  editor's  highest-powered  English, 
made  its  exposure  of  Harrison  Blake.  And 
that  afternoon  there  was  pandemonium  in 
Westville.  Violence  might  have  been  at- 
tempted upon  Blake,  but,  fortunately  for  him, 
he  had  gone  the  night  before  to  Indianapolis 
—  on  a  matter  of  state  politics,  it  was  said. 

Blake,  however,  was  a  man  to  fight  to  the 


322  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

last  ditch.  On  the  morning  after  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Express's  charges,  the  Clarion 
printed  an  indignant  denial  from  him.  That 
same  morning  Bruce  was  arrested  on  a  charge 
of  criminal  libel,  and  that  same  day  —  the 
grand  jury  being  in  session  —  he  was  indicted. 
Blake's  attorney  demanded  that,  since  these 
charges  had  a  very  direct  bearing  upon  the 
approaching  election,  the  trial  should  take 
precedence  over  other  cases  and  be  heard  im- 
mediately. To  this  Bruce  eagerly  agreed,  for 
he  desired  nothing  better  than  to  demolish 
Blake  in  court,  and  the  trial  was  fixed  for 
five  days  before  election. 

Katherine,  going  about,  heard  the  people 
jeer  at  Blake's  denial;  heard  them  say  that  his 
demand  for  a  trial  was  mere  bravado  to  save 
his  face  for  a  time  —  that  when  the  trial  came 
he  would  never  show  up.  She  saw  the  former 
favourite  of  Westville  become  in  an  hour  an 
object  of  universal  abomination.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  she  saw  Bruce  leap  up  to  the  very 
apex  of  popularity. 

For  Bruce's  sake,  for  every  one's  sake  but 
her  own,  she  was  rejoiced.  But  as  for  herself, 
she  walked  in  the  valley  of  humiliation,  she 
ate  of  the  ashes  of  bitterness.  Swept  aside 
by  the  onrush  of  events,  feeling  herself  and  her 
plans  suddenly  become  futile,  she  decided  to 
cease  all  efforts  and  countermand  all  orders. 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  323 

But  she  could  not  veto  her  plan  concerning 
Doctor  Sherman,  for  her  money  was  spent  and 
her  advertisements  were  broadcast  through 
the  North.  As  for  Mr.  Manning,  he  stated 
that  he  had  become  so  interested  in  the  sit- 
uation that  he  was  going  to  stay  on  in  Westville 
for  a  time  to  see  how  affairs  came  out. 

On  the  day  of  the  trial  Katherine  and  the 
city  had  one  surprise  at  the  very  start.  Con- 
trary to  all  predictions,  Harrison  Blake  was 
in  the  court-room  and  at  the  prosecution's 
table.  Despite  all  the  judge,  the  clerk,  and  the 
sheriff  could  do  to  maintain  order,  there  were 
cries  and  mutterings  against  him.  Not  once  did 
he  flinch,  but  sat  looking  straight  ahead  of  him, 
or  whispering  to  his  private  attorney  or  to  the 
public  prosecutor,  Kennedy.  He  was  a  brave 
man.  Katherine  had  known  that. 

Bruce,  all  confidence,  recited  on  the  witness 
stand  how  he  had  come  by  his  evidence.  Then 
the  assistant  superintendent  told  with  most 
convincing  detail  how  he  had  succumbed  to 
Blake's  temptation  and  done  his  bidding.  Next, 
the  engineer  testified  to  the  same  effect. 

The  crowd  lowered  at  Blake.  Certainly 
matters  looked  blacker  than  ever  for  the  one- 
time idol  of  the  city. 

But  Blake  sat  unmoved.  His  calmness  begat 
a  sort  of  uneasiness  in  Katherine.  When  the 
engineer  had  completed  his  direct  testimony, 


324  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Kennedy  arose,  and  following  whispered  sugges- 
tions from  Blake,  cross-questioned  the  witness 
searchingly,  ever  more  searchingly,  pursued  him 
in  and  out,  in  and  out,  till  at  length,  snap !  — 
Katherine's  heart  stood  still,  and  the  crowd 
leaned  forward  breathless  —  snap,  and  he  had 
caught  the  engineer  in  a  contradiction! 

Kennedy  went  after  the  engineer  with  rapid- 
fire  questions  that  involved  the  witness  in  con- 
tradiction on  contradiction  —  that  got  him 
confused,  then  hopelessly  tangled  up  —  that 
then  broke  him  down  completely  and  drew 
from  him  a  shamefaced  confession.  The  fact 
was,  he  said,  that  Mr.  Bruce,  wanting  campaign 
material,  had  privately  come  to  him  and  paid 
him  to  make  his  statements.  He  had  had  no 
dealings  with  Mr.  Blake  whatever.  He  was  a 
poor  man  —  his  wife  was  sick  with  the  fever  — 
he  had  needed  the  money  —  he  hoped  the  court 
would  be  lenient  with  him  —  etc.,  etc.  The 
other  witness,  recalled,  confessed  to  the  same 
story. 

Amid  a  stunned  court  room,  Bruce  sprang 
to  his  feet. 

"Lies!  Lies!"  he  cried  in  a  choking  fury. 
"They've  been  bought  off  by  Blake!" 

"Silence!"  shouted  Judge  Kellog,  pounding 
his  desk  with  his  gavel. 

"I  tell  you  it's  trickery!  They've  been 
bought  off  by  Blake!" 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  325 

"Silence!"  thundered  the  judge,  and  followed 
with  a  dire  threat  of  contempt  of  court. 

But  already  Mr.  Wilson  and  Sheriff  Nichols 
were  dragging  the  struggling  Bruce  back  into 
his  chair.  More  shouts  and  hammering  of 
gavels  by  the  judge  and  clerk  had  partially 
restored  to  order  the  chaos  begotten  by  this 
scene,  when  a  bit  of  paper  was  slipped  from 
behind  into  Bruce's  hand.  He  unfolded  it 
with  trembling  fingers,  and  read  in  a  disguised, 
back-hand  scrawl: 

"There's   still   enough  left  of  me  to  know 

what's  happened." 

That  was  all.  But  Bruce  understood.  Here 
was  the  handiwork  and  vengeance  of  Blind 
Charlie  Peck.  He  sprang  up  again  and  turned 
his  ireful  face  to  where,  in  the  crowd,  sat  the 
old  politician. 

"You  —  you "  he  began. 

But  before  he  got  further  he  was  again  dragged 
down  into  his  seat.  And  almost  before  the 
crowd  had  had  time  fairly  to  regain  its  breath, 
the  jury  had  filed  out,  had  filed  back  in  again, 
had  returned  its  verdict  of  guilty,  and  Judge 
Kellog  had  imposed  a  sentence  of  five  hundred 
dollars  fine  and  sixty  days  in  the  county  jail. 

In  all  the  crowd  that  looked  bewildered  on, 
Katherine  was  perhaps  the  only  one  who  be- 


326  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

lieved  in  Bruce's  cry  of  trickery.  She  saw 
that  Blake,  with  Blind  Charlie's  cunning  back 
of  him,  had  risked  his  all  on  one  bold  move 
that  for  a  brief  period  had  made  him  an  object 
of  universal  hatred.  She  saw  that  Bruce  had 
fallen  into  a  trap  cleverly  baited  for  him,  saw 
that  he  was  the  victim  of  an  astute  scheme 
to  discredit  him  utterly  and  remove  him  from 
the  way. 

As  Blake  left  the  Court  House  Katherine 
heard  a  great  cheer  go  up  for  him;  and  within 
an  hour  the  evidence  of  eye  and  ear  proved 
to  her  that  he  was  more  popular  than  ever. 
She  saw  the  town  crowd  about  him  to  make 
amends  for  the  injustice  it  considered  it  had 
done  him.  And  as  for  Bruce,  as  he  was  led 
by  Sheriff  Nichols  from  the  Court  House  toward 
the  jail,  she  heard  him  pursued  by  jeers  and 
hisses. 

Katherine  walked  homeward  from  the  trial, 
completely  dazed  by  this  sudden  capsizing  of 
all  of  Bruce's  hopes  —  and  of  her  own  hopes 
as  well,  for  during  the  last  few  days  she  had 
come  to  depend  on  Bruce  for  the  clearing  of 
her  father.  That  evening,  and  most  of  the 
night,  she  spent  in  casting  up  accounts.  As 
matters  then  stood,  they  looked  desperate 
indeed.  On  the  one  hand,  everything  pointed 
to  Blake's  election  and  the  certain  success  of 
his  plans.  On  the  other  hand,  she  had  gained 


BRUCE  TO  THE  FRONT  327 

no  clue  whatever  to  the  whereabouts  of  Doctor 
Sherman;  nothing  had  as  yet  developed  in  the 
scheme  she  had  built  about  Mr.  Manning;  as 
for  Mr.  Stone,  she  had  expected  nothing  from 
him,  and  all  he  had  turned  in  to  her  was  that 
he  suspected  secret  relations  between  Blake 
and  Peck.  Futhermore,  the  man  she  loved  — 
for  yes,  she  loved  him  still  —  was  in  jail,  his 
candidacy  collapsed,  the  cause  for  which  he 
stood  a  ruin.  And  last  of  all,  the  city,  to  the 
music  of  its  own  applause,  was  about  to  be 
colossally  swindled. 

A  dark  prospect  indeed.  But  as  she  sat 
alone  in  the  night,  the  cheers  for  Blake  floating 
in  to  her,  she  desperately  determined  to  renew 
her  fight.  Five  days  still  remained  before 
election,  and  in  five  days  one  might  do  much; 
during  those  five  days  her  ships  might  still 
come  home  from  sea.  She  summoned  her 
courage,  and  gripped  it  fiercely.  "I'll  do  my 
best!  I'll  do  my  best!"  she  kept  breathing 
throughout  the  night.  And  her  determination 
grew  in  its  intensity  as  she  realized  the  sum  of 
all  the  things  for  which  she  fought,  and  fought 
alone. 

She  was  fighting  to  save  her  father,  she  was 
fighting  to  save  the  city,  she  was  fighting  to 
save  the  man  she  loved. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE    LAST    STAND 

THE  next  morning  Katherine,  incited 
by  the  desperate  need  of  action,  was 
so  bold  as  to  request  Mr.  Manning 
to  meet  her  at  Old  Hosie's.  She  was  fortunate 
enough  to  get  into  the  office  without  being 
observed.  The  old  lawyer,  in  preparation  for 
the  conference,  had  drawn  his  wrinkled,  once 
green  shade  as  far  down  as  he  dared  without 
giving  cause  for  suspicion,  and  before  the 
window  had  placed  a  high-backed  chair  and 
thrown  upon  it  a  greenish,  blackish,  brownish 
veteran  of  a  fall  overcoat  —  thus  balking  any 
glances  that  might  rove  lazily  upward  to  his 
office. 

Old  Hosie  raised  his  lean  figure  from  his 
chair  and  shook  her  hand,  at  first  silently. 
He,  too,  was  dazed  by  the  collapse  of  Bruce's 
fortunes. 

"Things  certainly  do  look  bad,"  he  said 
slowly.  "I  never  suspected  that  his  case 
would  suddenly  stand  on  its  head  like  that." 

"Nor  did  I  —  though  from  the  beginning 
338 


THE  LAST  STAND  329 

I  had  an  instinctive  feeling  that  it  was  too  good, 
too  easy,  to  be  true." 

"And  to  think  that  after  all  we  know  the 
boy  is  right!"  groaned  the  old  man. 

"That's  what  makes  the  whole  affair  so 
tantalizing.  We  know  he  is  right  —  we  know 
my  father  is  innocent  —  we  know  the  danger 
the  city  is  in  —  we  know  Mr.  Blake's  guilt  — 
we  know  just  what  his  plans  are.  We  know 
everything!  But  we  have  not  one  jot  of  evi- 
dence that  would  be  believed  by  the  public. 
The  irony  of  it!  To  think,  for  all  our  knowl- 
edge, we  can  only  look  helplessly  on  and  watch 
Mr.  Blake  succeed  in  everything." 

Old  Hosie  breathed  an  imprecation  that 
must  have  made  his  ancestors,  asleep  behind 
the  old.  Quaker  meeting-house  down  in  Buck 
Creek,  gasp  in  their  grassy,  cedar-shaded 
graves. 

"All  the  same,"  Katherine  added  desper- 
ately, "we've  got  to  half  kill  ourselves  trying 
between  now  and  election  day!" 

They  subsided  into  silence.  In  nervous  im- 
patience Katherine  awaited  the  appearance  of 
the  pseudo-investor  in  run-down  farms.  He 
seemed  a  long  time  in  coming,  but  the  delay 
was  all  in  her  suspense,  for  as  the  Court  House 
clock  was  tolling  the  appointed  hour  Mr. 
Manning,  alias  Mr.  Hartsell,  walked  into  the 
office.  He  was,  as  Katherine  had  once  de- 


330  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

scribed  him  to  Old  Hosie,  a  quiet,  reserved  man 
with  that  confidence-inspiring  amplitude  in 
the  equatorial  regions  commonly  observable 
in  bank  presidents  and  trusted  officials  of 
corporations. 

As  he  closed  the  door  his  subdued  but 
confident  dignity  dropped  from  him  and  he 
warmly  shook  hands  with  Katherine,  for  this 
was  their  first  meeting  since  their  conference 
in  New  York  six  weeks  before. 

:<You  must  know  how  very,  very  terrible 
our  situation  is,"  Katherine  rapidly  began. 
"We've  simply  got  to  do  something!" 

"I  certainly  haven't  done  much  so  far," 
said  Manning,  with  a  rueful  smile.  "I'm 
sorry  —  but  you  don't  know  how  tedious  my 
role's  been  to  me.  To  act  the  part  of  bait, 
and  just  lie  around  before  the  noses  of  the 
fish  you're  after,  and  not  get  a  bite  in  two  whole 
weeks  —  that's  not  my  idea  of  exciting  fishing." 

"I  know.     But  the  plan  looked  a  good  one." 

"It  looked  first-class,"  conceded  Manning. 
"And,  perhaps " 

"With  election  only  four  days  off,  we've 
simply  got  to  do  something!"  Katherine  re- 
peated. "If  nothing  else,  let's  drop  that  plan, 
devise  a  new  one,  and  stake  our  hopes  on  some 
wild  chance." 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  Manning.  "I 
wouldn't  drop  that  plan  just  yet.  I've  gone 


THE  LAST  STAND  331 

two  weeks  without  a  bite,  but  —  I'm  not  sure 
—  remember  I  say  I'm  not  sure  —  but  I  think 
that  at  last  I  may  possibly  have  a  nibble." 

"A  nibble  you  say?"  cried  Katherine,  lean- 
ing eagerly  forward. 

"At  least,  the  cork  bobbed  under." 

"When?" 

"Last  night." 

"Last  night?     Tell  me  about  it!" 

"Well,  of  late  I've  been  making  my  study  of 
the  water-works  more  and  more  obvious,  and 
I've  half  suspected  that  I've  been  watched, 
though  I  was  too  uncertain  to  risk  raising  any 
false  hopes  by  sending  you  word  about  it. 
But  yesterday  afternoon  Blind  Charlie  Peck  — 
he's  been  growing  friendly  with  me  lately  — 
yesterday  Blind  Charlie  invited  me  to  have 
supper  with  him.  The  supper  was  in  his 
private  dining-room;  just  us  two.  I  suspected 
that  the  old  man  was  up  to  some  game,  and 
when  I  saw  the  cocktails  and  whiskey  and  wine 
come  on,  I  was  pretty  sure  —  for  you  know, 
Miss  West,  when  a  crafty  old  politician  of  the 
Peck  variety  wants  to  steal  a  little  information 
from  a  man,  his  regulation  scheme  is  to  get  his 
man  so  drunk  he  doesn't  know  what  he's  talk- 
ing about." 

"I  know.     Go  on!" 

"I  tried  to  beg  off  from  the  drinking.  I 
told  Mr.  Peck  I  did  not  drink.  I  liked  it,  I 


332  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

said,  but  I  could  not  carry  it.  A  glass  or  two 
would  put  me  under  the  table,  so  the  only 
safe  plan  for  me  was  to  leave  it  entirely  alone. 
But  he  pressed  me  —  and  I  took  one.  And  he 
pressed  me  again,  and  I  took  another  —  and 
another  —  and  another  —  till  I'd  had  five 


"But  you  should  never  have  done  it!"  cried 
Katherine  in  alarm. 

Manning  smiled  at  her  reassuringly. 

"I'm  no  drinking  man,  but  I'm  so  put  to- 
gether that  I  can  swallow  a  gallon  and  then  sign 
the  pledge  with  as  steady  a  hand  as  the  pres- 
ident of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  But  after  the  sixth 
drink  I  must  have  looked  just  about  right  to 
Blind  Charlie.  He  began  to  put  cunning  ques- 
tions at  me.  Little  by  little  all  my  secrets 
leaked  out.  The  farm  lands  were  only  a  blind. 
My  real  business  in  Westville  was  the  water- 
works. There  was  a  chance  that  the  city 
might  sell  them,  and  if  I  could  get  them  I  was 
going  to  snap  them  up.  In  fact,  I  was  going 
to  make  an  offer  to  the  city  in  a  very  few  days. 
I  had  been  examining  the  system  closely;  it 
wasn't  really  in  bad  shape  at  all;  it  was  worth 
a  lot  more  than  the  people  said;  and  I  was 
ready,  if  I  had  to,  to  pay  its  full  value  to  get 
it  —  even  more.  I  had  plenty  of  money  be- 
hind me,  for  I  was  representing  Mr.  Seymour, 
the  big  New  York  capitalist." 


THE  LAST  STAND  333 

"Good!  Good!"  cried  Katharine  breath- 
lessly. "How  did  he  seem  to  take  it?" 

"I  could  see  that  he  was  stirred  up,  and  I 
guessed  that  he  was  thinking  big  thoughts." 

"But  did  he  say  anything?" 

"Not  a  word.  Except  that  it  was  interest- 
ing." 

"Ah!"  It  was  an  exclamation  of  disappoint- 
ment. Then  she  instantly  added:  "But  of 
course  he  could  not  say  anything  until  after 
he  had  talked  it  over  with  Mr.  Blake.  He'll 
do  that  this  morning  —  if  he  did  not  do  it 
last  night.  You  may  be  approached  by  them 
to-day." 

She  stood  up  excitedly,  and  her  brown  eyes 
glowed.  "After  all,  something  may  come  of 
the  plan!' 

"It's  at  least  an  opening,"  said  Manning. 

"Yes.  And  let's  use  it  for  all  it's  worth. 
Don't  you  think  it  would  be  best  for  you  to  go 
right  back  to  your  hotel,  and  keep  yourself  in 
sight,  so  Mr.  Peck  won't  have  to  lose  a  second 
in  case  he  wants  to  talk  to  you  again?" 

"That's  what  I  had  in  mind." 

"And  all  day  I'll  be  either  in  my  office,  or 
at  home,  or  at  Mrs.  Sherman's.  And  the 
minute  anything  develops,  send  word  to  Mr. 
Hollingsworth  and  he'll  send  word  to  me." 

"I'll  not  waste  a  minute,"  he  assured  her. 

All  day  she  waited  with  suppressed  excite- 


334  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

ment  for  good  news  from  Manning.  But  the 
only  news  was  that  there  was  no  news.  And 
so  on  the  second  day.  And  so  on  the  third. 
Her  hopes,  that  had  flared  so  high,  sunk  by 
slow  degrees  to  mere  embers  among  the  ashes. 
It  appeared  that  the  nibble,  which  had  seemed 
but  the  preliminary  to  swallowing  the  bait, 
was  after  all  no  more  than  a  nibble;  that  the 
fish  had  merely  nosed  the  worm  and  swum  away. 
In  the  meantime,  while  eaten  up  by  the  sus- 
pense of  this  inaction,  she  was  witness  to  activity 
of  the  most  strenuous  variety.  Never  had  she 
seen  a  man  spring  up  into  favour  as  did  Harrison 
Blake.  His  campaign  meetings  were  resumed 
the  very  night  of  Bruce's  conviction;  the  city 
crowded  to  them;  the  Blake  Marching  Club 
tramped  the  streets  till  midnight,  with  flaming 
torches,  rousing  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people 
with  their  shouts  and  campaign  songs;  and 
wherever  Blake  appeared  upon  the  platform 
he  was  greeted  by  an  uproar,  and  even  when 
he  appeared  by  daylight,  when  men's  spirits 
are  more  sedate,  his  progress  through  the  streets 
was  a  series  of  miniature  ovations. 

•As  for  Bruce,  Katherine  saw  his  power  and 
position  crumble  so  swiftly  that  she  could 
hardly  see  them  disappear.  The  structure  of 
a  tremendous  future  had  stood  one  moment 
imposingly  before  her  eyes.  Presto,  and  it 
was  no  more!  The  sentiment  he  had  roused 


THE  LAST  STAND  335 

in  favour  of  public  ownership,  and  against  the 
regime  of  Blake,  was  as  a  thing  that  had  never 
been.  With  him  in  jail,  his  candidacy  was  but 
the  ashes  that  are  left  by  a  conflagration  — 
though,  to  be  sure,  since  the  ballots  were  al- 
ready printed,  it  was  too  late  to  remove  his 
name.  He  was  a  thing  to  be  cursed  at,  jeered 
at.  He  had  suddenly  become  a  little  lower 
than  nobody,  a  little  less  than  nothing. 

And  as  for  his  paper,  when  Katherine  looked 
at  it  it  made  her  sick  at  heart.  Within  a  day 
it  lost  a  third  in  size.  Advertisers  no  longer 
dared,  perhaps  no  longer  cared,  to  give  it 
patronage.  Its  news  and  editorial  character 
collapsed.  This  last  she  could  hardly  under- 
stand, for  Billy  Harper  was  in  charge,  and  Bruce 
had  often  praised  him  to  her  as  a  marvel  of  a 
newspaper  man.  But  one  evening,  when  she 
was  coming  home  late  from  Elsie  Sherman's 
and  hurrying  through  the  crowd  of  Main  Street, 
Billy  Harper  lurched  against  her.  The  next 
day,  with  a  little  adroit  inquiry,  she  learned 
that  Harper,  freed  from  Bruce's  restraining 
influence,  and  depressed  by  the  general  sit- 
uation, was  drinking  constantly.  It  required 
no  prophetic  vision  for  Katherine  to  see  that, 
if  things  continued  as  they  now  were  going,  on 
the  day  Bruce  came  out  of  jail  he  would  find 
the  Express,  which  he  had  lifted  to  power  and 
a  promise  of  prosperity,  had  sunk  into  a  dis- 


336  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

repute  and  a  decay  from  which  even  so  great 
an  energy  as  his  could  not  restore  it. 

Since  there  was  so  little  she  could  do  else- 
where, Katherine  was  at  the  Shermans'  several 
times  a  day,  trying  in  unobtrusive  ways  to 
aid  the  nurse  and  Doctor  Sherman's  sister. 
Miss  Sherman  was  a  spare,  silent  woman  of 
close  upon  forty,  with  rather  sharp,  determined 
features.  Despite  her  unloveliness,  Katherine 
respected  her  deeply,  for  in  other  days  Elsie 
had  told  her  sister-in-law's  story.  Miss  Sher- 
man and  her  brother  were  orphans.  To  her 
had  been  given  certain  plain  virtues,  to  him 
all  the  graces  of  mind  and  body.  She  was  a 
country  school-teacher,  and  it  had  been  her 
hard  work,  her  determination,  her  penny- 
counting  economy,  that  had  saved  her  talented 
brother  from  her  early  hardships  and  sent  him 
through  college.  She  had  made  him  what  he 
was;  and  beneath  her  stern  exterior  she  loved 
him  with  that  intense  devotion  a  lonely,  in- 
growing woman  feels  for  the  object  on  which 
she  has  spent  her  life's  thought  and  effort. 

Whenever  Katherine  entered  the  sick  cham- 
ber —  they  had  moved  Elsie's  bed  into  the 
sitting-room  because  of  its  greater  convenience 
and  better  air  —  her  heart  would  stand  still 
as  she  saw  how  white  and  wasted  was  her  friend. 
At  such  a  time  she  would  recall  with  a  choking 
keenness  all  of  Elsie's  virtues,  each  virtue 


THE  LAST  STAND  337 

increased  and  purified  —  her  simplicity,  her 
purity,  her  loyalty. 

Several  times  Elsie  came  back  from  the  brink 
of  the  Great  Abyss,  over  which  she  so  faintly 
hovered,  and  smiled  at  Katherine  and  spoke 
a  few  words  —  but  only  a  few,  for  Doctor  West 
allowed  no  more.  Each  time  she  asked,  with 
fluttering  trepidation,  if  any  word  had  come 
from  her  husband;  and  each  time  at  Kath- 
erine's  choking  negative  she  would  try  to  smile 
bravely  and  hide  her  disappointment. 

On  one  of  the  last  days  of  this  period  —  it 
was  the  Sunday  before  election  —  Doctor  West 
had  said  that  either  the  end  or  a  turn  for 
the  better  must  be  close  at  hand.  Katherine 
had  been  sitting  long  watching  Elsie's  pale 
face  and  faintly  rising  bosom,  when  Elsie 
slowly  opened  her  eyes.  Elsie  pressed  her 
friend's  hand  with  a  barely  perceptible  pres- 
sure and  smiled  with  the  faintest  shadow  of 
a  smile. 

"You  here  again,  Katherine?"  she  breathed. 

"Yes,   dear." 

"Just  the  same  dear  Katherine!" 

"Don't  speak,  Elsie." 

She  was  silent  a  space.  Then  the  wistful 
look  Katherine  had  seen  so  often  came  into 
the  patient's  soft  gray  eyes,  and  she  knew  what 
Elsie's  words  were  going  to  be  before  they 
passed  her  lips. 


338  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Have   you   heard   anything  —  from   him?" 

Katherine  slowly  shook  her  head. 

Elsie  turned  her  face  away  for  a  moment. 
A  sigh  fluttered  out.  Then  she  looked  back. 

"But  you  are  still  trying  to  find  him?" 

"We  have  done,  and  are  doing,  everything, 
dear." 

"I'm  sure,"  sighed  Elsie,  "that  he  would 
come  if  he  only  knew." 

"Yes  —  if  he  only  knew." 

"And  you  will  keep  on  —  trying  —  to  get 
him  word?" 

"Yes,  dear." 

"Then  perhaps  —  he  may  come  yet." 

"Perhaps,"  said  Katherine,  with  hopeful 
lips.  But  in  her  heart  there  was  no  hope. 

Elsie  closed  her  eyes,  and  did  not  speak 
again.  Presently  Katherine  went  out  into  the 
level,  red-gold  sunlight  of  the  waning  November 
afternoon.  The  church  bells,  resting  between 
their  morning  duty  and  that  of  the  night,  all 
were  silent;  over  the  city  there  lay  a  hush  — 
it  was  as  if  the  town  were  gathering  strength 
for  its  final  spasm  of  campaign  activity  on  the 
morrow.  There  was  nothing  in  that  Sabbath 
calm  to  disturb  the  emotion  of  Elsie's  bedside, 
and  Katherine  walked  slowly  homeward  be- 
neath the  barren  maples,  in  that  fearful,  tremu- 
lous, yearning  mood  in  which  she  had  left 
the  bedside  of  her  friend. 


THE  LAST  STAND  339 

In  this  same  mood  she  reached  home  and 
entered  the  empty  sitting-room.  She  was 
slowly  drawing  off  her  gloves  when  she  per- 
ceived, upon  the  centre-table,  a  special  delivery 
letter  addressed  to  herself.  She  picked  it 
up  in  moderate  curiosity.  The  envelope  was 
plain,  the  address  was  typewritten,  there  was 
nothing  to  suggest  the  identity  of  the  sender. 
In  the  same  moderate  curiosity  she  unfolded 
the  inclosure.  Then  her  curiosity  became 
excitement,  for  the  letter  bore  the  signature 
of  Mr.  Seymour. 

"I  have  to-day  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Harrison  Blake  of  Westville,"  Mr.  Seymour 
wrote  her,  "of  which  the  following  is  the 
text:  'We  have  just  learned  that  there  is  in 
our  city  a  Mr.  Hartzell  who  represents  himself 
to  be  an  agent  of  yours  instructed  to  purchase 
the  water-works  of  Westville.  Before  enter- 
ing into  any  negotiations  with  him  the  city 
naturally  desires  to  be  assured  by  you  that  he 
is  a  representative  of  your  firm.  As  haste  is 
necessary  in  this  matter,  we  request  you  to 
reply  at  once  and  by  special  delivery.' ' 

"Ah,  I  understand  the  delay  now!"  Kather- 
ine  exclaimed.  "Before  making  a  deal  with  Mr. 
Manning,  Mr.  Blake  and  Mr.  Peck  wanted  to 
be  sure  their  man  was  what  he  said  he  was!" 

"And  now,  Miss  West,"  Mr.  Seymour  wrote 
on,  "since  you  have  kept  me  in  the  dark  as  to 


340  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

the  details  of  your  plan,  and  as  I  have  never 
heard  of  said  Hartzell,  I  have  not  known  just 
how  to  reply  to  your  Mr.  Blake.  So  I  have 
had  recourse  to  the  vague  brevity  of  a  busy 
man,  and  have  sent  the  following  by  the  same 
mail  that  brings  this  to  you :  'Replying  to  your 
inquiry  of  the  3rd  inst.  I  beg  to  inform  you  that 
I  have  a  representative  in  Westville  fully  au- 
thorized to  act  for  me  in  the  matter  of  the 
water-works.'  I  hope  this  reply  is  all  right. 
Also  there  is  a  second  hope,  which  is  strong 
even  if  I  try  to  keep  it  subdued;  and  that  is 
that  you  will  have  to  buy  the  water-works  in 
for  me." 

From  that  instant  Katherine's  mind  was  all 
upon  her  scheme.  She  was  certain  that  Mr. 
Seymour's  reply  was  already  in  the  hands  of 
Blake  and  Peck,  and  that  they  were  even  then 
planning,  or  perhaps  had  already  planned,  what 
action  they  should  take.  At  once  she  called 
Old  Hosie  up  by  telephone. 

"  I  think  it  looks  as  though  the  'nibble'  were 
going  to  develop  into  a  bite,  and  quick,"  she 
said  rapidly.  "Get  into  communication  with 
Mr.  Manning  and  tell  him  to  make  no  final 
arrangement  with  those  parties  till  he  sees  me. 
I  want  to  know  what  they  offer." 

It  was  an  hour  later,  and  the  early  night  had 
already  fallen,  when  there  was  a  ring  at  the 
West  door,  and  Old  Hosie  entered,  alone. 


THE  LAST  STAND  341 

Katharine  quickly  led  the  old  lawyer  into  the 
parlour. 

"Well?"  she  whispered. 

"Manning  has  just  accepted  an  invitation 
for  an  automobile  ride  this  evening  from 
Charlie  Peck." 

Katherine  suddenly  gripped  his  hand. 

"That  may  be  a  bite!" 

The  old  man  nodded  with  suppressed  excite- 
ment. 

"They  were  to  set  out  at  six.  It's  five 
minutes  to  six  now." 

Without  a  word  Katherine  crossed  swiftly 
and  opened  the  door  an  inch,  and  stood  tensely 
waiting  beside  it.  Presently,  through  the 
calm  of  the  Sabbath  evening,  there  started  up 
very  near  the  sudden  buzzing  of  a  cranked-up 
car.  Then  swiftly  the  buzzing  faded  away  into 
the  distance. 

Katherine  turned. 

"It's  Mr.  Blake's  car.  They'll  all  be  at  The 
Sycamores  in  half  an  hour.  It's  a  bite,  cer- 
tain! Get  hold  of  Mr.  Manning  as  soon  as  he 
comes  back,  and  bring  him  here.  The  house 
will  be  darkened,  but  the  front  door  will  be 
unlocked.  Come  right  in.  Come  as  late  as 
you  please.  You'll  find  me  waiting  here  in 
the  parlour." 

The  hours  that  followed  were  trying  ones 
for  Katherine.  She  sat  about  with  her  aunt 


342  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

till  toward  ten  o'clock.  Then  her  father 
returned  from  his  last  call,  and  soon  thereafter 
they  all  went  to  their  rooms.  Katherine 
remained  upstairs  till  she  thought  her  father 
and  aunt  were  settled,  then  slipped  down  to 
the  parlour,  set  the  front  door  ajar,  and  sat 
waiting  in  the  darkness.  She  heard  the  Court 
House  clock  with  judicial  slowness  count  off 
eleven  o'clock  —  then  after  a  long,  long  space, 
count  off  twelve.  A  few  minutes  later  she 
heard  Blake's  car  return,  and  after  a  time  she 
heard  the  city  clock  strike  one. 

It  was  close  upon  two  when  soft  steps 
sounded  upon  the  porch  and  the  front  door 
opened.  She  silently  shook  hands  with  her 
two  vague  visitors. 

"We  didn't  think  it  safe  to  come  any  sooner," 
explained  Old  Hosie  in  a  whisper. 

"You've  been  with  them  out  at  The  Syca- 
mores?" Katherine  eagerly  inquired  of  Man- 
ning. 

"Yes.     For  a  four  hours'  session." 

"Well?" 

"Well,  so  far  it  looks  O.  K." 

In  a  low  voice  he  detailed  to  Katherine  how 
they  had  at  first  fenced  with  one  another; 
how  at  length  he  had  told  them  that  he  had  a 
formal  proposal  to  the  city  to  buy  the  water- 
works all  drawn  up  and  that  on  the  morrow 
he  was  going  to  present  it  —  and  that,  further- 


THE  LAST  STAND  343 

more,  he  would,  if  necessary,  increase  the  sum 
he  offered  in  that  proposal  to  the  full  value 
of  the  plant.  Blake  and  Peck,  after  a  slow 
approach  to  the  subject,  in  which  they  admitted 
that  they  also  planned  to  buy  the  system,  had 
suggested  that,  inasmuch  as  he  was  only  an 
agent  and  there  would  be  no  profit  in  the 
purchase  to  him  personally,  he  abandon  his 
purpose.  If  he  would  do  this  they  would  make 
it  richly  worth  his  while.  He  had  replied  that 
this  was  such  a  different  plan  from  that  which 
he  had  been  considering  that  he  must  have 
time  to  think  it  over  and  would  give  them  his 
answer  to-morrow.  On  which  understanding 
the  three  had  parted. 

"I  suppose  it  would  hardly  be  practicable," 
said  Katherine  when  he  had  finished,  "to  have 
a  number  of  witnesses  concealed  at  your  place 
of  meeting  and  overhear  your  conversation?" 

"No,  it  would  be  mighty  difficult  to  pull 
that  off." 

"And  what's  more,"  she  commented,  "Mr. 
Blake  would  deny  whatever  they  said,  and 
with  his  present  popularity  his  words  would 
carry  more  weight  than  that  of  any  half  dozen 
witnesses  we  might  get.  At  the  best,  our 
charges  would  drag  on  for  months,  perhaps 
years,  in  the  courts,  with  in  the  end  the  ma- 
jority of  the  people  believing  in  him.  With 
the  election  so  near,  we  must  have  instantane- 


344  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

ous  results.  We  must  use  a  means  of  exposing 
him  that  will  instantly  convince  all  the  people." 

"That's  the  way  I  see  it,"  agreed  Manning. 

"When  did  they  offer  to  pay  you,  in  case 
you  agreed  to  sell  out  to  them?" 

"On  the  day  they  got  control  of  the  water- 
works. Naturally  they  didn't  want  to  pay 
me  before,  for  fear  I  might  break  faith  with 
them  and  buy  in  the  system  for  Mr.  Seymour." 

"Can't  you  make  them  put  their  proposition 
in  the  form  of  an  agreement,  to  be  signed  by 
all  three  of  you?"  asked  Katherine. 

"But  mebbe  they  won't  consent  to  that," 
put  in  Old  Hosie. 

"Mr.  Manning  will  know  how  to  bring  them 
around.  He  can  say,  for  example,  that,  unless 
he  has  such  a  written  agreement,  they  will  be 
in  a  position  to  drop  him  when  once  they've 
got  what  they  want.  He  can  say  that  unless 
they  consent  to  sign  some  such  agreement  he 
will  go  on  with  his  original  plan.  I  think 
they'll  sign." 

"And  if  they  do?"  queried  Old  Hosie. 

"If  they  do,"  said  Katherine,  "we'll  have 
documentary  evidence  to  show  Westville  that 
those  two  great  political  enemies,  Mr.  Blake 
and  Mr.  Peck,  are  secretly  business  associates  — 
their  business  being  a  conspiracy  to  wreck  the 
water-works  and  defraud  the  city.  I  think  such 
a  document  would  interest  Westville." 


THE  LAST  STAND  345 

"I  should  say  it  would!"  exclaimed  Old 
Hosie. 

They  whispered  on,  excitedly,  hopefully; 
and  when  the  two  men  had  departed  and 
Katherine  had  gone  up  to  her  room  to  try  to 
snatch  a  few  hours'  sleep,  she  continued  to 
dwell  eagerly  upon  the  plan  that  seemed  so 
near  of  consummation.  She  tossed  about  her 
bed,  and  heard  the  Court  House  clock  sound 
three,  and  then  four.  Then  the  heat  of  her 
excitement  began  to  pass  away,  and  cold 
doubts  began  to  creep  into  her  mind.  Perhaps 
Blake  and  Peck  would  refuse  to  sign.  And  even 
if  they  did  sign,  she  began  to  see  this  pros- 
pective success  as  a  thing  of  lesser  magnitude. 
The  agreement  would  prove  the  alliance  be- 
tween Blake  and  Peck,  and  would  make  clear 
that  a  conspiracy  existed.  It  was  good,  but 
it  was  not  enough.  It  fell  short  by  more  than 
half.  It  would  not  clear  her  father,  though  his 
innocence  might  be  inferred,  and  it  would  not 
prove  Blake's  responsibility  for  the  epidemic. 

As  she  lay  there  staring  wide-eyed  into  the 
gloom  of  the  night,  listening  to  the  town  clock 
count  off  the  hours  of  her  last  day,  she  re- 
alized that  what  she  needed  most  of  all,  far  more 
than  Manning's  document  even  should  he  get  it, 
was  the  testimony  which  she  believed  was 
sealed  behind  the  lips  of  Doctor  Sherman,  whose 
present  whereabouts  God  only  knew. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


AT    ELSIE'S    BEDSIDE 


THE  day  before  election,  a  day  of  hope 
deferred,  had  dragged  slowly  by  and 
night  had  at  length  settled  upon  the 
city.  Doctor  West  had  the  minute  before  come 
in  from  a  long,  dinnerless  day  of  hastening 
from  case  to  case,  and  now  he,  Katherine,  and 
her  aunt  were  sitting  about  the  supper  table. 
To  Katherine's  eye  her  father  looked  very 
weary  and  white  and  frail.  The  day-and- 
night  struggle  at  scores  of  bedsides  was  sorely 
wearing  him  down. 

As  for  Katherine,  she  was  hardly  less  worn. 
She  scarcely  touched  the  food  before  her. 
The  fears  that  always  assail  one  at  a  crisis, 
now  swarmed  in  upon  her.  With  the  election 
but  a  few  hours  distant,  with  no  word  as  yet 
from  Mr.  Manning,  she  saw  all  her  high  plans 
coming  to  naught  and  saw  herself  overwhelmed 
with  utter  defeat.  From  without  there  dimly 
sounded  the  beginning  of  the  ferment  of  the 
campaign's  final  evening;  it  brought  to  her  more 
keenly  that  to-morrow  the  city  was  going  to  give 

346 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  347 

itself  over  unanimously  to  be  despoiled.  Across 
the  table,  her  father,  pale  and  worried,  was  a 
reminder  that,  when  his  fight  of  the  plague 
was  completed,  he  must  return  to  jail.  Her 
mind  flashed  now  and  then  to  Bruce;  she  saw 
him  in  prison;  she  saw  not  only  his  certain 
defeat  on  the  morrow,  but  she  saw  him  crushed 
and  ruined  for  life  as  far  as  a  career  in  Westville 
was  concerned;  and  though  she  bravely  tried 
to  master  her  feeling,  the  throbbing  anguish 
with  which  she  looked  upon  his  fate  was  affir- 
mation of  how  poignant  and  deep-rooted  was 
her  love. 

And  yet,  despite  these  flooding  fears,  she 
clung  with  a  dizzy  desperation  to  hope,  and 
to  the  determination  to  fight  on  to  the  last 
second  of  the  last  minute. 

While  swinging  thus  between  despair  and 
desperate  hope,  she  was  maintaining,  at  first 
somewhat  mechanically  to  be  sure,  a  conver- 
sation with  her  father,  whom  she  had  not  seen 
since  their  early  breakfast  together. 

"How  does  the  fever  situation  seem  to- 
night?" she  asked. 

"Much  better,"  said  Doctor  West.  "There 
were  fewer  new  cases  reported  to-day  than  any 
day  for  a  week." 

"Then  you  are  getting  the  epidemic  under 
control?" 

"  I  think  we  can  at  last  say  we  have  it  thor- 


348  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

oughly  in  hand.  The  number  of  new  cases 
is  daily  decreasing,  and  the  old  cases  are  doing 
well.  I  don't  know  of  an  epidemic  of  this 
size  on  record  where  the  mortality  has  been 
so  small." 

She  came  out  of  her  preoccupation  and 
breathlessly  demanded: 

"Tell  me,  how  is  Elsie  Sherman?  I  could 
not  get  around  to  see  her  to-day." 

He  dropped  his  eyes  to  his  plate  and  did 
not  answer. 

"You  mean  she  is  no  better?" 

"She  is  very  low." 

"But  she  still  has  a  chance?" 

"Yes,  she  has  a  chance.  But  that's  about 
all.  The  fever  is  at  its  climax.  I  think  to- 
night will  decide  which  it's  to  be." 

"You  are  going  to  her  again  to-night?" 

"Right  after  supper." 

"Then  I'll  go  with  you,"  said  Katherine. 
"Poor  Elsie!  Poor  Elsie!"  she  murmured  to 
herself.  Then  she  asked,  "Have  they  had  any 
word  from  Doctor  Sherman?" 

"  I  asked  his  sister  this  afternoon.  She  said 
they  had  not." 

They  fell  silent  for  a  moment  or  two.  Doc- 
tor West  nibbled  at  his  ham  with  a  troubled 
air. 

"There  is  one  feature  of  the  case  I  cannot 
approve  of,"  he  at  length  remarked  "Of 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  349 

course  the  Shermans  are  poor,  but  I  do  not 
think  Miss  Sherman  should  have  impaired 
Elsie's  chances,  such  as  they  are,  from  motives 
of  economy." 

"Impaired  Elsie's  chances?"  queried  Kath- 
erine. 

"And  certainly  she  should  not  have  done 
so  without  consulting  me,"  continued  Doctor 
West. 

"Done   what?" 

"Oh,  I  forgot  I  had  not  had  a  chance  to  tell 
you.  When  I  made  my  first  call  this  morning 
I  learned  that  Miss  Sherman  had  discharged 
the  nurse." 

"Discharged  the  nurse?" 

"Yes.     During    the    night." 

"But  what  for?" 

"Miss  Sherman  said  they  could  not  afford 
to  keep  her." 

"But  with  Elsie  so  dangerously  sick,  this  is 
no  time  to  economize!" 

"Exactly  what  I  told  her.  And  I  said  there 
were  plenty  of  friends  who  would  have  been 
happy  to  supply  the  necessary  money." 

"And  what  did  she  say?" 

"Very    little.     She's    a    silent,    determined 
woman,    you    know.     She    said    that    even    at 
such  a  time  they  could  not  accept  charity." 

"But  did  you  not  insist  upon  her  getting 
another  nurse?" 


350  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"  Yes.     But  she  refused  to  have  one." 

"Then  who  is  looking  after  Elsie?" 

"Miss   Sherman." 

"Alone?" 

"Yes,  alone.  She  has  even  discharged  old 
Mrs.  Murphy,  who  came  in  for  a  few  hours 
a  day  to  clean  up." 

"It  seems  almost  incomprehensible!"  ejacu- 
lated Katherine.  "Think  of  running  such  a  risk 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  dollars!" 

"After  all,  Miss  Sherman  isn't  such  a  bad 
nurse,"  Doctor  West's  sense  of  justice  prompted 
him  to  admit.  "In  fact,  she  is  really  doing 
very  well." 

"All  the  same,  it  seems  incomprehensible!" 
persisted  Katherine.  "  For  economy's  sake " 

She  broke  off  and  was  silent  a  moment. 
Then  suddenly  she  leaned  across  the  table. 

"You  are  sure  she  gave  no  other  reason?" 

"None." 

"And  you  believe  her?" 

"Why,  you  don't  think  she  would  lie  to  me, 
do  you?"  exclaimed  Doctor  West. 

"I  don't  say  that,"  Katherine  returned 
rapidly.  "But  she's  shrewd  and  close-mouthed. 
She  might  not  have  told  you  the  whole  truth." 

"But  what  could  have  been  her  real  reason 
then?" 

"Something  besides  the  reason  she  gave. 
That's  plain." 


AT  ELSIE'S   BEDSIDE  351 

"But  what  is  it?  Why,  Katherine,"  her 
father  burst  out,  half  rising  from  his  chair, 
" what's  the  matter  with  you?" 

Her  eyes  were  glowing  with  excitement. 
"Wait!  Wait!"  she  said  quickly,  lifting  a 
hand. 

She  gazed  down  upon  the  table,  her  brow 
puckered  with  intense  thought.  Her  father 
and  her  aunt  stared  at  her  in  gathering  amaze- 
ment, and  waited  breathlessly  till  she  should 
speak. 

After  a  minute  she  glanced  up  at  her  father. 
The  strange  look  in  her  face  had  grown  more 
strange. 

"You  saw  no  one  else  there  besides  Miss 
Sherman?"  she  asked  quickly. 

"No." 

"Nor  signs  of  any  one?" 

"No,"  repeated  the  bewildered  old  man. 
"What  are  you  thinking  of,  Katherine?" 

"I  don't  dare  say  it  —  I  hardly  dare  think 
it!" 

She  pushed  back  her  chair  and  arose.  She 
was  quivering  all  over,  but  she  strove  to  com- 
mand her  agitation. 

"As  soon  as  you're  through  supper,  father, 
I'll  be  ready  to  go  to  Elsie." 

"I'm  through  now." 

"Come  on,  then.     Let's  not  lose  a  minute!" 

They  hurried  out  and  entered  the   carnage 


352  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

which,  at  the  city's  charge,  stood  always  wait- 
ing Doctor  West's  requirements.  "To  Mrs. 
Sherman's  —  quick!"  Katherine  ordered  the 
driver,  and  the  horse  clattered  away  through 
the  crisp  November  night. 

Already  people  were  streaming  toward  the 
centre  of  the  town  to  share  in  the  excitement 
of  the  campaign's  closing  night.  As  the  car- 
riage passed  the  Square,  Katherine  saw,  built 
against  the  Court  House  and  brilliantly  fes- 
tooned with  vari-coloured  electric  bulbs,  the 
speakers'  stand  from  which  Blake  and  others 
of  his  party  were  later  to  address  the  final 
mass-meeting  of  the  campaign. 

The  carriage  turned  past  the  jail  into  Wa- 
bash  Avenue,  and  a  minute  afterward  drew  up 
beside  the  Sherman  cottage.  Pulsing  with  the 
double  suspense  of  her  conjecture  and  of  her 
concern  for  Elsie's  life,  Katherine  followed  her 
father  into  the  sick  chamber.  As  they  entered 
the  hushed  room  the  spare  figure  of  Miss  Sher- 
man rose  from  a  rocker  beside  the  bed,  greeted 
them  with  a  silent  nod,  and  drew  back  to  give 
place  to  Doctor  West. 

Katherine  moved  slowly  to  the  foot  of  the 
bed  and  gazed  down.  For  a  space,  one  cause 
of  her  suspense  was  swept  out  of  her  being,  and 
all  her  concern  was  for  the  flickering  life 
before  her.  Elsie  lay  with  eyes  closed,  and 
breathing  so  faintly  that  she  seemed  scarcely 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  353 

to  breathe  at  all.  So  pale,  so  wasted,  so  almost 
wraithlike  was  she  as  to  suggest  that  when 
her  spirit  fled,  if  flee  it  must,  nothing  could  be 
left  remaining  between  the  sheets. 

As  she  gazed  down  upon  her  friend,  hovering 
uncertainly  upon  life's  threshold,  a  tingling 
chill  pervaded  Katherine's  body.  Since  her 
mother's  loss  in  unremembering  childhood, 
Death  had  been  kind  to  her;  no  one  so  dear  had 
been  thus  carried  up  to  the  very  brink  of  the 
grave.  All  that  had  been  sweet  and  strong 
in  her  friendship  with  Elsie  now  flooded  in 
upon  her  in  a  mighty  wave  of  undefined  emo- 
tion. She  was  immediately  conscious  only 
of  the  wasted  figure  before  her,  and  its  peril, 
but  back  of  consciousness  were  unformed 
memories  of  their  girlhood  together,  of  the 
inseparable  intimacy  of  their  young  woman- 
hood, and  of  that  shy  and  tender  time  when 
she  had  been  the  confidante  of  Elsie's  courtship. 

There  was  a  choking  at  her  throat,  tears 
slipped  down  her  cheeks,  and  there  surged  up 
a  wild,  wild  wish,  a  rebellious  demand,  that 
Elsie  might  come  safely  through  her  danger. 

But,  presently,  her  mind  reverted  to  the 
special  purpose  that  had  brought  her  hither. 
She  studied  the  face  of  Miss  Sherman,  seeking 
confirmation  of  the  conjecture  that  had  so 
aroused  her  —  studying  also  for  some  method 
of  approaching  Miss  Sherman,  of  breaking 


354  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

down  her  guard,  and  gaining  the  information 
she  desired.  But  she  learned  nothing  from 
the  expression  of  those  spare,  self-contained 
features;  and  she  realized  that  the  lips  of  the 
Sphinx  would  be  easier  to  unlock  than  those 
of  this  loyal  sister  of  a  fugitive  brother. 

That  her  conjecture  was  correct,  she  became 
every  instant  more  convinced.  She  sensed  it 
in  the  stilled  atmosphere  of  the  house;  she  sensed 
it  in  the  glances  of  cold  and  watchful  hostility 
Miss  Sherman  now  and  then  stole  at  her.  She 
was  wondering  what  should  be  her  next  step, 
when  Doctor  West,  who  had  felt  Elsie's  pulse 
and  examined  the  temperature  chart,  drew 
Miss  Sherman  back  to  near  where  Katherine 
stood. 

"Still  nothing  from  Doctor  Sherman?"  he 
whispered  in  grave  anxiety. 

"Nothing,"    said    Miss    Sherman,    looking 
straight  into  her  questioner's  eyes. 

"Too  bad,  too  bad!"  sighed  Doctor  West. 
"He  ought  to  be  home!" 

Miss  Sherman  let  the  first  trace  of  feeling 
escape  from  her  compressed  being. 

"But  still  there  is  a  chance?"  she  asked 
quickly. 

"A  fighting  chance.  I  think  we  shall  know 
which  it's  to  be  within  an  hour." 

At  these  words  Katherine  heard  from  behind 
her  ever  so  faint  a  sound,  a  sound  that  sent  a 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  355 

thrill  through  all  her  nerves.  A  sound  like  a 
stifled  groan.  For  a  minute  or  more  she  did 
not  move-  But  when  Doctor  West  and  Miss 
Sherman  had  gone  back  to  their  places  and 
Doctor  West  had  begun  the  final  fight  for 
Elsie's  life,  she  slowly  turned  about.  Before 
her  was  a  door.  Her  heart  gave  a  leap.  When 
she  had  entered  she  had  searched  the  room 
with  a  quick  glance,  and  that  door  had  then 
been  closed.  It  now  stood  slightly  ajar. 

Some  one  within  must  have  noiselessly  opened 
it  to  hear  Doctor  West's  decree  upon  the 
patient. 

Swiftly  and  silently  Katherine  slipped  through 
the  door  and  locked  it  behind  her.  For  a 
moment  she  stood  in  the  darkness,  striving  to 
master  her  throbbing  excitement. 

At  length  she  spoke. 

"Will  you  please  turn  on  the  light,  Doctor 
Sherman,"  she  said. 

There  was  no  answer;  only  a  black  and 
breathless  silence. 

"Please  turn  on  the  light,  Doctor  Sherman," 
Katherine  repeated.  "I  cannot,  for  I  do  not 
know  where  the  electric  button  is." 

Again  there  was  silence.  Then  Katherine 
heard  something  like  a  gasp.  There  was  a 
click,  and  then  the  room,  Doctor  Sherman's 
study,  burst  suddenly  into  light. 

Behind   the   desk,   one   hand   still   upon   the 


356  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

electric  key,  stood  Doctor  Sherman.  He  was 
very  thin  and  very  white,  and  was  worn,  wild- 
eyed  and  dishevelled.  He  was  breathing 
heavily  and  he  stared  at  Katherine  with  the 
defiance  of  a  desperate  creature  brought  at 
last  to  bay. 

"What  do  you  want?"  he  demanded  huskily. 

"A  little  talk  with  you,"  replied  Katherine, 
trying  to  speak  calmly. 

"You  must  excuse  me.  With  Elsie  so  sick, 
I  cannot  talk." 

She  stood  very  straight  before  him.  Her 
eyes  never  left  his  face. 

"We  must  talk  just  the  same,"  she  returned. 
"When  did  you  come  home?" 

"Last  night." 

"Why  did  you  not  let  your  friends  know  of 
your  return?  All  day,  in  fact  for  several  days, 
they  have  been  sending  telegrams  to  every 
place  where  they  could  conceive  your  being." 

He  did  not  answer. 

"It  looks  very  much  as  if  you  were  trying 
to  hide." 

Again  he  did  not  reply. 

"It  looks  very  much,"  she  steadily  pursued, 
"as  if  your  sister  discharged  the  nurse  and  the 
servant  in  order  that  you  might  hide  here  in 
your  own  home  without  risk  of  discovery." 

Still  he  did  not  answer. 

"You  need  not  reply  to  that  question,  for 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  357 

the  reply  is  obvious.  I  guessed  the  meaning 
of  the  nurse's  discharge  as  soon  as  I  heard  of 
it.  I  guessed  that  you  were  secretly  hovering 
over  Elsie,  while  all  Westville  thought  you  were 
hundreds  of  miles  away.  But  tell  me,  how  did 
you  learn  that  Elsie  was  sick?" 

He  hesitated,  then  swallowed. 

"  I  saw  a  notice  of  it  in  a  little  country  paper." 

"Ah,  I  thought  so." 

She  moved  forward  and  leaned  across  the 
desk.  Their  eyes  were  no  more  than  a  yard 
apart. 

"Tell  me,"  she  said  quietly,  "why  did  you 
slip  into  town  by  night?  Why  are  you  hiding 
in  your  own  home?" 

A  tremor  ran  through  his  slender  frame. 
With  an  effort  he  tried  to  take  the  upperhand. 

"You  must  excuse  me,"  he  said,  with  an 
attempt  at  sharp  dignity.  "I  refuse  to  be 
cross-examined." 

"Then  I  will  answer  for  you.  The  reason, 
Doctor  Sherman,  is  that  you  have  a  guilty 


conscience." 


:That  is   not 


"Do  not  lie,"  she  interrupted  quickly. 
"You  realize  what  you  have  done,  you  are 
afraid  it  may  become  public,  you  are  afraid 
of  the  consequences  to  yourself  —  and  that  is 
why  you  slipped  back  in  the  dead  of  night  and 
lie  hidden  like  a  fugitive  in  your  own  house." 


358  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

A  spasm  of  agony  crossed  his  face. 

"For  God's  sake,  tell  me  what  you  want 
and  leave  me!" 

"I  want  you  to  clear  my  father." 

"Clear  your  father?"  he  cried.  "And  how, 
if  you  please?" 

"By  confessing  that  he  is  innocent." 

"When  he  is  guilty!" 

"You  know  he  is  not." 

"He's  guilty  —  he's  guilty,  I  tell  you!  Be- 
sides," he  added,  wildly,  "don't  you  see  that 
if  I  proclaim  him  innocent  I  proclaim  myself 
a  perjured  witness?" 

She  leaned  a  little  farther  across  the  desk. 

"Is  not  that  exactly  what  you  are,  Doctor 
Sherman?" 

He  shrank  back  as  though  struck.  One  hand 
went  tremulously  to  his  chin  and  he  stared 
at  her. 

"No!  No!"  he  burst  out  spasmodically. 
"It's  not  so!  I  shall  not  admit  it!  Would 
you  have  me  ruin  myself  for  all  time?  Would 
you  have  me  ruin  Elsie's  future!  Would  you 
have  me  kill  her  love  for  me?" 

"Then  you  will  not  confess?" 

"I  tell  you  there  is  nothing  to  confess!" 

She  gazed  at  him  steadily  a  moment.  Then 
she  turned  back  to  the  door,  softly  unlocked 
and  opened  it.  He  started  to  rush  through, 
but  she  raised  a  hand  and  stopped  him. 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  359 

"Just  look,"  she  commanded  in  a  whisper. 

He  stared  through  the  open  door.  They 
could  see  Elsie's  white  face  upon  the  pillow, 
with  the  two  dark  braids  beside  it;  and  could 
see  Doctor  West  hovering  over  her.  He  had 
not  heard  them,  but  Miss  Sherman  had,  and 
she  directed  at  Katherine  a  pale  and  hostile 
glance. 

The  young  husband  twisted  his  hands  in 
agony. 

"Oh,  Elsie!     Elsie!"  he  moaned. 

Katherine  closed  the  door,  and  turned  again 
to  Doctor  Sherman. 

"You  have  seen  your  work,"  she  said.  "Do 
you  still  persist  in  your  innocence?" 

He  drew  a  deep,  shivering  breath  and  shrank 
away  behind  his  desk,  but  did  not  answer. 

Katherine  followed  him. 

"Do  you  know  how  sick  your  wife  is?" 

"I  heard  your  father  say." 

"She  is  swinging  over  eternity  by  a  mere 
thread."  Katherine  leaned  across  the  desk  and 
her  eyes  gazed  with  an  even  greater  fixity  into 
his.  "If  the  thread  snaps,  do  you  know  who 
will  have  broken  it?" 

"Don't!     Don't!"   he  begged. 

"Her  own  husband,"  Katherine  went  on 
relentlessly. 

A  cry  of  agony  escaped  him. 

"You   saw  that  old  man  in  there  bending 


360  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

over  her,"  she  pursued,  "trying  with  all  his 
skill,  with  all  his  love,  to  save  her  —  to  save 
her  from  the  peril  you  have  plunged  her  into  — 
and  with  never  a  bitter  feeling  against  you  in 
his  heart.  If  she  lives,  it  will  be  because  of 
him.  And  yet  that  old  man  is  ruined  and  has 
a  blackened  reputation.  I  ask  you,  do  you 
know  who  ruined  him?" 

"Don't!  Don't!"  he  cried,  and  he  sank  a 
crumpled  figure  at  his  desk,  and  buried  his 
face  in  his  arms. 

"Look  up!"  cried  Katherine  sternly. 

"Wait!"   he   moaned.     "Wait!" 

She  passed  around  the  desk  and  firmly  raised 
his  shoulders. 

"Look  me  in  the  eyes!" 

He  lifted  a  face  that  worked  convulsively. 

She  stood  accusingly  before  him.  "Out  with 
the  truth!"  she  commanded  in  a  rising  voice. 
"In  the  presence  of  your  wife,  perhaps  dying, 
and  dying  as  the  result  of  your  act  —  in  the 
presence  of  that  old  man,  whom  you  have 
ruined  with  your  word  —  do  you  still  dare  to 
maintain  your  innocence?  Out  with  the  truth, 
I  say!" 

He  sprang  to  his  feet. 

"I  can  stand  it  no  longer!"  he  gasped  in 
an  agony  that  went  to  Katherine's  heart. 
"It's  killing  me!  It's  been  tearing  me  apart 
for  months !  What  I  have  suffered  —  oh, 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  361 

what  I  have  suffered !     I'll  tell  you  all  —  all ! 
Oh,  let  me  get  it  off  my  soul!" 

The  desperation  of  his  outburst,  the  sight 
of  his  fine  face  convulsed  with  uttermost  agony 
and  repentance,  worked  a  sudden  revulsion  in 
^Catherine's  heart.  All  her  bitterness,  her 
momentary  sternness,  rushed  out  of  her,  and 
there  she  was,  quivering  all  over,  hot  tears  in 
her  eyes,  gripping  the  hands  of  Elsie's  husband. 

"Fm  so  glad  —  not  only  for  father's  sake  — 
but  for  your  sake,"  she  cried  chokingly. 

"Let  me  tell  you  at  once!  Let  me  get  it 
out  of  myself!" 

"First  sit  down,"  and  she  gently  pressed 
him  back  into  his  chair  and  drew  one  up  to 
face  him.  "And  wait  for  a  moment  or  two, 
till  you  feel  a  little  calmer." 

He  bowed  his  head  into  his  hands,  and  for 
a  space  breathed  deeply  and  tremulously. 
Katherine  stood  waiting.  Through  the  night 
sounded  the  brassy  strains  of  "My  Country 
'Tis  of  Thee."  Back  at  the  Court  House 
Blake's  party  was  opening  its  great  mass- 
meeting. 

"I'm  a  coward  —  a  coward!"  Doctor  Sher- 
man groaned  at  length  into  his  hands.  And 
in  a  voice  of  utmost  contrition  he  went  on  and 
told  how,  to  gain  money  for  the  proper  care 
of  Elsie,  he  had  been  drawn  into  gambling  in 
stocks;  how  he  had  made  use  of  church  funds 


362  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

to  save  himself  in  a  falling  market,  and  how  this 
church  money  had,  like  his  own,  been  swallowed 
down  by  Wall  Street;  how  Blake  had  discovered 
the  embezzlement,  for  the  time  had  saved  him, 
but  later  by  threat  of  exposure  had  driven  him 
to  play  the  part  he  had  against  Doctor  West. 

"You  must  make  this  statement  public, 
instantly!"  Katherine  exclaimed  when  he  had 
finished. 

He  shrank  back  before  that  supreme  hu- 
miliation. "Let  me  do  it  later  —  please, 
please!"  he  besought  her. 

"A  day's  delay  will  be "  She  caught  his 

arm.  "Listen!"  she  commanded. 

Both  held  their  breath.  Through  the  night 
came  the  stirring  music  of  "The  Star  Spangled 
Banner." 

"What  is  that?"  he  asked. 

"The  great  rally  of  Mr.  Blake's  party  at 
the  Court  House."  Her  next  words  drove  in. 
"To-morrow  Mr.  Blake  is  going  to  capture 
the  city,  and  be  in  position  to  rob  it.  And 
all  because  of  your  act,  Doctor  Sherman!" 

"You  are  right,  you  are  right!"  he  breathed. 

She  held  out  a  pen  to  him. 

"You  must  write  your  statement  at  once." 

"Yes,  yes,"  he  cried,  "only  let  it  be  short 
now.  I'll  make  it  in  full  later." 

"You  need  write  only  a  summary." 

He  seized  the  pen  and  dipped    it    into  the 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  363 

ink  and  for  a  moment  held  it  shaking  over  a 
sheet  of  paper. 

"I  cannot  shape  it  —  the  words  won't  come." 

"Shall  I  dictate  it  then?" 

"Do!    Please  do!" 

"You  are  willing  to  confess  everything?" 

"Everything!" 

Katherine  stood  thinking  for  a  moment 
at  his  side. 

"Ready,  then.  Write,  'I  embezzled  funds 
from  my  church;  Mr.  Blake  found  me  out, 
and  replaced  what  I  had  taken,  with  no  one 
being  the  wiser.  Later,  by  the  threat  of 
exposing  me  if  I  refused,  he  compelled  me  to 
accuse  Doctor  West  of  accepting  a  bribe  and 
still  later  he  compelled  me  to  testify  in  court 
against  Doctor  West.  Mr.  Blake's  purpose  in 
so  doing  was  to  remove  Doctor  West  from  his 
position,  ruin  the  water-works,  and  buy  them 
in  at  a  bargain.  I  hereby  confess  and  declare, 
of  my  own  free  will,  that  I  have  been  guilty 
of  lying  and  of  perjury.'  Do  you  want  to 
say  that?" 

"Yes!    Yes!" 

"'And  I  further  confess  and  declare  that 
Dr.  David  West  is  innocent  in  every  detail 
of  the  charges  made  against  him.  Signed, 
Harold  Sherman.'  ' 

He  dropped  his  pen  and  sprang  up. 

"  And  now  may  I  go  in  to  Elsie  ?" 


364  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"You  may." 

He  hurried  noiselessly  across  the  room  and 
through  the  door.  Katherine,  picking  up  the 
precious  paper  she  had  worked  so  many  months 
to  gain,  followed  him.  Miss  Sherman  saw 
them  come  in,  but  remained  silent.  Doctor 
West  was  bending  over  Elsie  and  did  not  hear 
their  entrance. 

Doctor  Sherman  tiptoed  to  the  bedside,  and 
stood  gazing  down,  his  breath  held,  hardly  less 
pale  than  the  soft-sleeping  Elsie  herself.  Pres- 
ently Doctor  West  straightened  up  and  per- 
ceived the  young  minister.  He  started,  then 
held  out  his  hand. 

"Why,  Doctor  Sherman!"  he  whispered  eag- 
erly. "I'm  so  glad  you've  come  at  last!" 

The  younger  man  drew  back. 

"You  won't  be  willing  to  shake  hands  with 
me  —  when  you  know."  Then  he  took  a  quick 
half  step  forward.  "But  tell  me,"  he  breathed, 
"is  there  —  is  there  any  hope?" 

"I  dare  not  speak  definitely  yet  —  but  I 
think  she  is  going  to  live." 

"Thank  God!"  cried  the  young  man. 

Suddenly  he  collapsed  upon  the  floor  and 
embraced  Doctor  West  about  the  knees,  and 
knelt  there  sobbing  out  broken  bits  of  sen- 
tences. 

"Why  —  why,"  stammered  Doctor  West  in 
amazement,  "what  does  this  mean?" 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  365 

Katherine  moved  forward.  Her  voice  qua- 
vered, partly  from  joy,  partly  from  pity  for 
the  anguished  figure  upon  the  floor. 

"It  means  you  are  cleared,  father!  This 
will  explain."  And  she  gave  him  Doctor  Sher- 
man's confession. 

The  old  man  read  it,  then  passed  a  bewildered 
jiand  across  his  face. 

"I  —  I  don't  understand  this!" 

"I'll  explain  it  later,"  said  Katherine. 

"Is  —  is  this  true?"  It  was  to  the  young 
minister  that  Doctor  West  spoke. 

"Yes.  And  more.  I  can't  ask  you  to 
forgive  me!"  sobbed  Doctor  Sherman.  "It's 
beyond  forgiveness!  But  I  want  to  thank 
you  for  saving  Elsie.  At  least  you'll  let  me 
thank  you  for  that!" 

"What  I  have  done  here  has  been  only  my 
duty  as  a  physician,"  said  Doctor  West  gently. 
"As  for  the  other  matter"  —  he  looked  the 
paper  through,  still  with  bewilderment  —  "as 
for  that,  I'm  afraid  I  am  not  the  chief  sufferer," 
he  said  slowly,  gently.  "I  have  been  under  a 
cloud,  it  is  true,  and  I  won't  deny  that  it  has 
hurt.  But  I  am  an  old  man,  and  it  doesn't 
matter  much.  You  are  young,  just  beginning 
life.  Of  us  two  you  are  the  one  most  to  be 
pitied." 

"Don't  pity  me  —  please!"  cried  the  min- 
ister. "I  don't  deserve  it!" 


366  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I'm  sorry — so  sorry!"  Doctor  West  shook 
his  head.  Apparently  he  had  forgotten  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  confession  to  himself.  "I  have 
always  loved  Elsie,  and  I  have  always  admired 
you  and  been  proud  of  you.  So  if  my  forgive- 
ness means  anything  to  you,  why  I  forgive  you 
with  all  my  heart!" 

A  choking  sound  came  from  the  bowed 
figure,  but  no  words.  His  embracing  arms 
fell  away  from  Doctor  West.  He  knelt  there 
limply,  his  head  bowed  upon  his  bosom.  There 
was  a  moment  of  breathless  silence.  In  the 
background  Miss  Sherman  stood  looking  on, 
white,  tense,  dry-eyed. 

Doctor  Sherman  turned  slowly,  fearfully,  to- 
ward the  bed. 

"But,  Elsie,"  he  whispered  in  a  dry,  lost 
voice.  "It's  all  bad  —  but  that's  the  worst 
of  all.  When  she  knows,  she  never  can  for- 
give me!" 

Katherine  laid  a  hand  upon  his  shoulder. 
-  "If  you  think  that,  then  you  don't  know 
Elsie.  She  will  be  pained,  but  she  loves  you 
with  all  her  soul;  she  would  forgive  you  any- 
thing so  long  as  you  loved  her,  and  she  would 
follow  you  through  every  misery  to  the  ends  of 
the  world." 

"Do  you  think  so?"  he  breathed;  and  then 
he  crept  to  the  bed  and  buried  his  face  upon  it. 

Katherine    looked    down    upon    him    for    a 


AT  ELSIE'S  BEDSIDE  367 

moment.  Then  her  own  concerns  began  flood- 
ing back  upon  her.  She  realized  that  she  had 
not  yet  won  the  fight.  She  had  only  gained 
a  weapon. 

"I  must  go  now,"  she  whispered  to  her 
father,  taking  the  paper  from  his  hand. 

Throbbing  with  returned  excitement,  she 
hurried  out  to  the  dimly  comprehended,  des- 
perate effort  that  lay  before  her. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

BILLY    HARPER   WRITES    A    STORY 

AKATHERINE  crossed   the   porch   and 
went   down   the   steps    she   saw,   enter- 
ing the  yard,  a  tall,  square-hatted  ap- 
parition. 

"Is  that  you,  Miss  Katherine?"  it  called 
softly  to  her. 

"Yes,  Mr.  Hollingsworth. " 

"I  was  looking  for  you."  He  turned  and 
they  walked  out  of  the  yard  together.  "I 
went  to  your  house,  and  your  aunt  told 
me  you  were  here.  I've  got  it!"  he  added 
excitedly. 

"Got  what?" 

"The  agreement!" 

She  stopped  short  and  seized  his  arm. 

"You  mean  between  Blake,  Peck,  and  Man- 
ning?" 

"Yes.     I've  got  it!" 

"Signed?" 

"All  signed!"  And  he  slapped  the  breast 
pocket  of  his  old  frock-coat. 

"Let  me  see  it!     Please!" 
368 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         369 

He  handed  it  to  her,  and  by  the  light  of  a 
street  lamp  she  glanced  it  through. 

"Oh,  it's  too  good  to  believe!"  she  murmured 
exultantly.  "Oh,  oh!"  She  thrust  it  into 
her  bosom,  where  it  lay  beside  Doctor  Sherman's 
confession.  "Come,  we  must  hurry!"  she  cried. 
And  with  her  arm  through  his  they  set  off  in 
the  direction  of  the  Square. 

"When  did  Mr.  Manning  get  this?"  she 
asked,  after  a  moment. 

"  I  saw  him  about  an  hour  ago.  He  had  then 
just  got  it. " 

"It's  splendid!  Splendid!"  she  ejaculated. 
"But  I  have  something,  too!" 

"Yes?"  queried  the  old  man. 
f     "Something    even    better."     And    as    they 
hurried  on  she  told  him  of  Doctor  Sherman's 
confession. 

Old  Hosie  burst  into  excited  congratulations, 
but  she  quickly  checked  him. 

"We've  no  time  now  to  rejoice,"  she  said. 
"We  must  think  how  we  are  going  to  use  these 
statements  —  how  we  are  going  to  get  this 
information  before  the  people,  get  it  before 
them  at  once,  and  get  it  before  them  so  they 
must  believe  it. " 

They  walked  on  in  silent  thought.  From 
the  moment  they  had  left  the  Shermans'  gate 
the  two  had  heard  a  tremendous  cheering  from 
the  direction  of  the  Square,  and  had  seen  a 


370  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

steady,  up-reaching  glow,  at  intervals  brilliantly 
bespangled  by  rockets  and  roman  candles. 
Now,  as  they  came  into  Main  Street,  they  saw 
that  the  Court  House  yard  was  jammed  with  an 
uproarious  multitude.  Within  the  speakers' 
stand  was  throned  the  Westville  Brass  Band; 
enclosing  the  stand  in  an  imposing  semicircle 
was  massed  the  Blake  Marching  Club,  in  uni- 
forms, their  flaring  torches  adding  to  the  il- 
lumination of  the  festoons  of  incandescent 
bulbs;  and  spreading  fanwise  from  this  uni- 
formed nucleus  it  seemed  that  all  of  Westville 
was  assembled  —  at  least  all  of  Westville  that 
did  not  watch  at  fevered  bedsides. 

At  the  moment  that  Katherine  and  Old  Hosie, 
walking  along  the  southern  side  of  Main  Street, 
came  opposite  the  stand,  the  first  speaker  con- 
cluded his  peroration  and  resumed  his  seat. 
There  was  an  outburst  of  "  Blake !  Blake !  Blake ! " 
from  the  enthusiastic  thousands;  but  the  West- 
ville Brass  Band  broke  in  with  the  chorus  of 
"Marching  Through  Georgia."  The  stirring 
thunder  of  the  band  had  hardly  died  away, 
when  the  thousands  of  voices  again  rose  in 
cries  of  "Blake!  Blake!  Blake!" 

The  chairman  with  difficulty  quieted  the 
crowd,  and  urged  them  to  have  patience,  as 
all  the  candidates  were  going  to  speak,  and  Blake 
was  not  to  speak  till  toward  the  last.  Kennedy 
was  the  next  orator,  and  he  told  the  multitude, 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY        371 

with  much  flinging  heavenward  of  loose-jointed 
arms,  what  an  unparalleled  administration  the 
officers  to  be  elected  on  the  morrow  would 
give  the  city,  and  how  first  and  foremost  it 
would  be  their  purpose  to  settle  the  problem 
of  the  water-works  in  such  a  manner  as  to  free 
the  city  forever  from  the  dangers  of  another 
epidemic  such  as  they  were  now  experiencing. 
As  supreme  climax  to  his  speech,  he  lauded  the 
ability,  character  and  public  spirit  of  Blake 
till  superlatives  could  mount  no  higher. 

When  he  sat  down  the  crowd  went  well-nigh 
mad.  But  amid  the  cheering  for  the  city's 
favourite,  some  one  shouted  the  name  of  Doctor 
West  and  with  it  coupled  a  vile  epithet.  At 
once  Doctor  West's  name  swept  through  the 
crowd,  hissed,  jeered,  cursed.  This  outbreak 
made  clear  one  ominous  fact.  The  enthusiasm 
of  the  multitude  was  not  just  ordinary,  election- 
time  enthusiasm.  Beneath  it  was  smouldering 
a  desire  of  revenge  for  the  ills  they  had  suffered 
and  were  suffering  —  a  desire  which  at  a  moment 
might  flame  up  into  the  uncontrollable  fury  of 
a  mob. 

Katherine  clutched  Old  Hosie's  arm. 

"Did  you  hear  those  cries  against  my  father?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  I  know  now  what  I  shall  do!" 

He  saw  that  her  eyes  were  afire  with  decision. 

"What?" 


372  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I  am  going  across  there,  watch  my  chance, 
slip  out  upon  the  speakers'  stand,  and  expose 
and  denounce  Mr.  Blake  before  Mr.  Blake's 
own  audience!" 

The  audacity  of  the  plan  for  a  moment  caught 
Old  Hosie's  breath.  Then  its  dramatic  quality 
fired  his  imagination. 

"Gorgeous!"  he  exclaimed. 

"Come  on!"  she  cried. 

She  started  across  the  street,  with  Old  Hosie 
at  her  heels.  But  before  she  reached  the  oppo- 
site curb  she  paused,  and  turned  slowly  back. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Old  Hosie. 

"  It  won't  do.  The  people  on  the  stand  would 
pull  me  down  before  I  got  started  speaking. 
And  even  if  I  spoke,  the  people  would  not 
believe  me.  I  have  got  to  put  this  evi- 
dence " —  she  pressed  the  documents  within  her 
bosom —  "before  their  very  eyes.  No,  we  have 
got  to  think  of  some  other  way. " 

By  this  time  they  were  back  in  the  seclusion 
of  the  doorway  of  the  Express  Building,  where 
they  had  previously  been  standing.  For  several 
moments  the  hoarse,  vehement  oratory  of  a  tired 
throat  rasped  upon  their  heedless  ears.  Once 
or  twice  Old  Hosie  stole  a  glance  at  Katherine's 
tensely  thoughtful  face,  then  returned  to  his 
own  meditation. 

Presently  she  touched  him  on  the  arm.  He 
looked  up. 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         373 

"I  have  it  this  time!"  she  said,  with  the  quiet 
of  suppressed  excitement. 

"Yes?" 

"We're  going  to  get  out  an  extra!" 

"An  extra?"  he  exclaimed  blankly. 

"Yes.     Of  the  Express!" 

"An  extra  of  the  Express?" 

"Yes.  Get  it  out  before  this  crowd  scatters, 
and  in  it  reproductions  of  these  documents!" 

He  stared  at  her.  "Son  of  Methuselah!" 
Then  he  whistled.  Then  his  look  became  a  bit 
strange,  and  there  was  a  strange  quality  to  his 
voice  when  he  said : 

"So  you  are  going  to  give  Arnold  Bruce's 
paper  the  credit  of  the  exposure?" 

His  tone  told  her  the  meaning  that  lay  be- 
hind his  words.  He  had  known  of  the  engage- 
ment, and  he  knew  that  it  was  now  broken.  She 
flushed. 

"It's  the  best  way,"  she  said  shortly. 

"But  you  can't  do  it  alone!" 

"Of  course  not."  Her  voice  began  to  gather 
energy.  "We've  got  to  get  the  Express  people 
here  at  once  —  and  especially  Mr.  Harper. 
Everything  depends  on  Mr.  Harper.  He'll 
have  to  get  the  paper  out. " 

"Yes!  Yes!"  said  Old  Hosie,  catching  her 
excitement. 

"You  look  for  him  here  in  this  crowd  —  and, 
also,  if  you  can  see  to  it,  send  some  one  to  get 


374  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

the  foreman  and  his  people.  I'll  look  for  Mr. 
Harper  at  his  hotel.  We'll  meet  here  at  the 
office." 

With  that  they  hurried  away  on  their  respec- 
tive errands.  Arrived  at  the  National  House, 
where  Billy  Harper  lived,  Katherine  walked  into 
the  great  bare  office  and  straight  up  to  the  clerk, 
whom  the  mass-meeting  had  left  as  the  room's 
sole  occupant. 

"Is  Mr.  Harper  in?"  she  asked  quickly. 

The  clerk,  one  of  the  most  prodigious  of  local 
beaux,  was  startled  by  this  sudden  apparition. 

"I  — I  believe  he  is." 

"  Please  tell  him  at  once  that  I  wish  to  see  him." 

He  fumbled  the  white  wall  of  his  lofty  collar 
with  an  embarrassed  hand. 

"Excuse  me,  Miss  West,  but  the  fact  is,  I'm 
afraid  he  can't  see  you." 

"Give  him  my  name  and  tell  him  I  simply 
must  see  him. " 

The  clerk's  embarrassment  waxed  greater. 

"I  —  I  guess  I  should  have  said  it  the  other 
way  around,"  he  stammered.  "I'm  afraid  you 
won't  want  to  see  him. 

"Why  not?" 

"The  fact  is  —  he's  pretty  much  cut  up,  you 
know  —  and  he's  been  so  worried  that  —  that 
—  well,  the  plain  fact  is,"  he  blurted  out,  "Mr. 
Harper  has  been  drinking." 

"To-night?" 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         375 

"Yes." 

"Much?" 

"Well  —  I'm  afraid  quite  a  little. " 

"But  he's  here?" 

"He's  in  the  bar-room." 

Katherine's  heart  had  been  steadily  sinking. 

"I  must  see  him  anyhow!"  she  said  desper- 
ately. "Please  call  him  out!" 

The  clerk  hesitated,  in  even  deeper  embar- 
rassment. This  affair  was  quite  without  prece- 
dent in  his  career. 

"You  must  call  him  out  —  this  second! 
Didn't  you  hear  me?" 

"Certainly,  certainly." 

He  came  hastily  from  behind  his  desk  and 
disappeared  through  a  pair  of  swinging  wicker 
doors.  After  a  moment  he  reappeared,  alone, 
and  his  manner  showed  a  degree  of  embarrass- 
ment even  more  acute. 

Katherine  crossed  eagerly  to  meet  him. 

"You  found  Mr.  Harper?" 

"Yes." 

"Well?" 

"I  couldn't  make  him  understand.  And  even 
if  I  could,  he's  —  he's  —  well,"  he  added  with  a 
painful  effort,  "he's  in  no  condition  for  you  to 
talk  to,  Miss  West." 

Katherine  gazed  whitely  at  the  clerk  for  a 
moment.  Then  without  a  word  she  stepped 
by  him  and  passed  through  the  wicker  door. 


376  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

With  a  glance  she  took  in  the  garishly  lighted 
room  —  its  rows  of  bottles,  its  glittering  mir- 
rors, its  white-aproned  bartender,  its  pair  of  topers 
whose  loyalty  to  the  bar  was  stronger  than  the 
lure  of  oratory  and  music  at  the  Square.  And 
there  at  a  table,  his  head  upon  his  arms,  sat 
the  loosely  hunched  body  of  him  who  was  the 
foundation  of  all  her  present  hopes. 

She  moved  swiftly  across  the  sawdusted 
floor  and  shook  the  acting  editor  by  the 
shoulder. 

"Mr.  Harper!"  she  called  into  his  ear. 

She  shook  him  again,  and  again  she  called 
his  name. 

"Le*  me  'lone,"  he  grunted  thickly.  "Wanter 
sleep." 

She  was  conscious  that  the  two  topers  had 
paused  in  mid-drink  and  were  looking  her  way 
with  a  grinning,  alcoholic  curiosity.  She  shook 
the  editor  with  all  her  strength. 

"Mr.  Harper!"  she  called  fiercely. 

"  G'way ! "  he  mumbled.  "  'M  busy.  Wanter 
sleep. " 

Katherine  gazed  down  at  the  insensate  mass 
in  utter  hopelessness.  Without  him  she  could 
do  nothing,  and  the  precious  minutes  were 
flying.  Through  the  night  came  a  rumble 
of  applause  and  fast  upon  it  the  music  of  another 
patriotic  air. 

In  desperation  she  turned  to  the  bartender. 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         377 

"Can't  you  help  me  rouse  him?"  she  cried. 
"I've  simply  got  to  speak  to  him!" 

That  gentleman  had  often  been  appealed  to  by 
frantic  women  as  against  customers  who  had 
bought  too  liberally.  But  Katherine  was  a 
new  variety  in  his  experience.  There  was  a 
great  deal  too  much  of  him  about  the  waist 
and  also  beneath  the  chin,  but  there  was  good- 
nature in  his  eyes,  and  he  came  from  behind  his 
counter  and  bore  himself  toward  Katherine 
with  a  clumsy  and  ornate  courtesy. 

"Don't  see  how  you  can,  Miss.  He's  been 
hittin'  an  awful  pace  lately.  You  see  for  your- 
self how  far  gone  he  is." 

"But  I  must  speak  to  him  —  I  must!  Surely 
there  is  some  extreme  measure  that  would 
bring  him  to  his  senses!" 

"But,  excuse  me;  you  see,  Miss,  Mr.  Harper  is 
a  reg'lar  guest  of  the  hotel,  and  I  wouldn't  dare 
go  to  extremes.  If  I  was  to  make  him  mad " 

"I'll  take  all  the  blame!"  she  cried.  "And 
afterward  he'll  thank  you  for  it!" 

The  bartender  scratched  his  thin  hair. 

"Of  course,  I  want  to  help  you,  Miss,  and 
since  you  put  it  that  way,  all  right.  You  say 
I  can  go  the  limit?" 

"Yes!     Yes!" 

The  bartender  retired  behind  his  bar  and 
returned  with  a  pail  of  water.  He  removed 
the  young  editor's  hat. 


378  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Stand  back,  Miss;  it's  ice  cold,"  he  said; 
and  with  a  swing  of  his  pudgy  arms  he  sent  the 
water  about  Harper's  head,  neck,  and  upper 
body. 

The  young  fellow  staggered  up  with  a  gasping 
cry.  His  blinking  eyes  saw  the  bartender, 
with  the  empty  pail.  He  reached  for  the  tum- 
bler before  him. 

"Damn  you,  Murphy!"  he  growled.  "I'll 
pay  you  " 

But  Katherine  stepped  quickly  forward  and 
touched  his  dripping  sleeve. 

"Mr.  Harper!"  she  said. 

He  slowly  turned  his  head.  Then  the  hand 
with  the  upraised  tumbler  sank  to  the  table, 
and  he  stared  at  her. 

"Mr.  Harper,"  she  said  sharply,  slowly, 
trying  to  drive  her  words  into  his  dulled  brain, 
" I've  got  to  speak  to  you !  At  once!" 

He  continued  to  blink  at  her  stupidly.  At 
length  his  lips  opened. 

"Miss  West,"  he  said  thickly. 

She  shook  him  fiercely. 

"Pull  yourself  together!  I've  got  to  speak 
to  you!" 

At  this  moment  Mr.  Murphy,  who  had  gone 
once  more  behind  his  bar,  reappeared  bearing 
a  glass.  This  he  held  out  to  Harper. 

"Here,  Billy,  put  this  down.  It'll  help 
straighten  you  up." 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         379 

Harper  took  the  glass  in  a  trembling  hand 
and  swallowed  its  contents. 

"And  now,  Miss,"  said  the  bartender,  putting 
Harper's  dry  hat  on  him,  "the  thing  to  do  is 
to  get  him  out  in  the  cold  air,  and  walk  him 
round  a  bit.  I'd  do  it  for  you  myself,"  he 
added  gallantly,  "but  everybody's  down  at  the 
Square  and  there  ain't  no  one  here  to  relieve 


me.' 


"Thank  you  very  much,  Mr.  Murphy." 

"It's  nothing  at  all,  Miss,"  said  he  with  a 
grandiloquent  gesture  of  a  hairy,  bediamonded 
hand.  "Glad  to  do  it." 

She  slipped  her  arm  through  the  young  edi- 
tor's. 

"And  now,  Mr.  Harper,  we  must  go." 

Billy  Harper  vaguely  understood  the  situation 
and  there  was  a  trace  of  awakening  shame  in 
his  husky  voice. 

"Are  you  sure  —  you  want  to  be  seen  with 
me  —  like  this?" 

"I  must,  whether  I  want  to  or  not,"  she  said 
briefly;  and  she  led  him  through  the  side 
door  out  into  the  frosty  night. 

The  period  that  succeeded  will  ever  remain 
in  Katherine's  mind  as  matchless  in  her  life 
for  agonized  suspense.  She  was  ever  crying 
out  frantically  to  herself,  why  did  this  man  she 
led  have  to  be  in  such  a  condition  at  this  the 
time  when  he  was  needed  most?  While  she 


380  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

rapidly  walked  her  drenched  and  shivering 
charge  through  the  deserted  back  streets,  the 
enthusiasm  of  Court  House  Square  reverberated 
maddeningly  in  her  ears.  She  realized  how 
rapidly  time  was  flying  —  and  yet,  aflame  with 
desire  for  action  as  she  was,  all  she  could  do  was 
to  lead  this  brilliant,  stupefied  creature  to  and 
fro,  to  and  fro.  She  wondered  if  she  would  be 
able  to  bring  him  to  his  senses  in  time  to  be 
of  service.  To  her  impatience,  which  made  an 
hour  of  every  moment,  it  seemed  she  never 
would.  But  her  hope  was  all  on  him,  and  so 
doggedly  she  kept  him  going. 

Presently  he  began  to  lurch  against  her  less 
heavily  and  less  frequently;  and  soon,  his  head 
hanging  low  in  humiliation,  he  started  shiveringly 
to  mumble  out  an  abject  apology.  She  cut 
him  short. 

"We've  no  time  for  apologies.  There's  work 
to  be  done.  Is  your  head  clear  enough  to  un- 
derstand?" 

"I  think  so,"  he  said  humbly,  albeit  some- 
what thickly. 

"Listen  then!    And  listen  hard!" 

Briefly  and  clearly  she  outlined  to  him  her 
discoveries  and  told  him  of  the  documents  she 
had  just  secured.  She  did  not  realize  it,  but 
this  recital  of  hers  was,  for  the  purpose  of  sober- 
ing him,  better  far  than  a  douche  of  ice-water, 
better  far  than  walking  in  the  tingling  air.  She 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         381 

was  appealing  to,  stimulating,  the  most  sensi- 
tive organ  of  the  born  newspaper  man,  his  sense 
of  news.  Before  she  was  through  he  had  come 
to  a  pause  beneath  a  sputtering  arc  light,  and 
was  interrupting  her  with  short  questions,  his 
eyes  ablaze  with  excitement. 

"God!"  he  ejaculated  when  she  had  finished, 
"that  would  make  the  greatest  newspaper 
story  that  ever  broke  loose  in  this  town!" 

She  trembled  with  an  excitement  equal  to 
his  own. 

"And  I  want  you  to  make  it  into  the  greatest 
newspaper  story  that  ever  broke  loose  in  this 
town!" 

"But  to-morrow  the  voting ': 

"There's  no  to-morrow  about  it!  We've 
got  to  act  to-night.  You  must  get  out  an  ex- 
tra of  the  Express. " 

"An  extra  of  the  Express!" 

"Yes.  And  it  must  be  on  the  streets  before 
that  mass-meeting  breaks  up." 

"Oh,  my  God,  my  God!"  Billy  whispered  in 
awe  to  himself,  forgetting  how  cold  he  was  as 
his  mind  took  in  the  plan.  Then  he  started 
away  almost  on  a  run.  "We'll  do  it!  But  first, 
we've  got  to  get  the  press-room  gang. " 

"I've  seen  to  that.  I  think  we'll  find  them 
waiting  at  the  office." 

"You  don't  say!"  ejaculated  Billy.  "Miss 
West,  to-morrow,  when  there's  more  time,  I'm 


382  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

going  to  apologize  to  you,  and  everybody, 
for " 

"  If  you  get  out  this  extra,  you  won't  need  to 
apologize  to  anybody." 

"But  to-night,  if  you'll  let  me,"  continued 
Billy,  "I  want  you  to  let  me  say  that  you're 
a  wonder!" 

Katherine  let  this  praise  go  by  unheeded, 
and  as  they  hurried  toward  the  Square  she  gave 
him  details  she  had  omitted  in  her  outline. 
When  they  reached  the  Express  office  they 
found  Old  Hosie,  who  told  them  that  the  fore- 
man and  the  mechanical  staff  were  in  the  press- 
room. A  shout  from  Billy  down  the  stairway 
brought  the  foreman  running  up. 

"Do  you  know  what's  doing,  Jake?"  cried 
Billy. 

"Yes.     Mr.  Hollingsworth  told  me. " 

"Everything  ready?" 

"  Sure,  Billy.     We're  waiting  for  your  copy. " 

"Good!  First  of  all  get  these  engraved." 
He  excitedly  handed  the  foreman  Katherine's 
two  documents.  "Each  of  'em  three  columns 
wide.  We'll  run  'em  on  the  front  page. 
And,  Jake,  if  you  let  those  get  lost,  I'll  shoot 
you  so  full  of  holes  your  wife'll  think  she's 
married  to  a  screen  door!  Now  chase  along 
with  you!" 

Billy  threw  off  his  drenched  coat,  slipped 
into  an  old  one  hanging  on  a  hook,  dropped  into 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         383 

a  chair  before  a  typewriter,  ran  in  a  sheet  of 
paper,  and  without  an  instant's  hesitation  be- 
gan to  rattle  off  the  story  —  and  Katherine, 
in  a  sort  of  fascination,  stood  gazing  at  that 
worth-while  spectacle,  a  first-class  newspaper- 
man in  full  action. 

But  suddenly  he  gave  a  cry  of  dismay  and 
his  arms  fell  to  his  sides. 

"My  mind  sees  the  story  all  right, "  he  groaned. 
"I  don't  know  whether  it's  that  ice-water  or 
the  drink,  but  my  arms  are  so  shaky  I  can't 
hit  the  keys  straight. " 

On  the  instant  Katherine  had  him  out  of  the 
chair  and  was  in  his  place. 

"I  studied  typewriting  along  with  my  law,  "she 
said  rapidly.  "Dictate  it  to  me  on  the  machine." 

There  was  not  a  word  of  comment.  At 
once  Billy  began  talking,  and  the  keys  began 
to  whir  beneath  Katherine's  hands.  The  first 
page  finished,  Billy  snatched  it  from  her,  gave 
a  roar  of  "Copy!"  glanced  it  through  with  a 
correcting  pencil,  and  thrust  it  into  the  hands 
of  an  in-rushing  boy. 

As  the  boy  scuttled  away,  a  thunderous 
cheering  arose  from  the  Court  House  yard  — 
applause  that  outsounded  a  dozen-fold  all  that 
had  gone  before. 

"What's  that?"  asked  Katherine  of  Old 
Hosie,  who  stood  at  the  window  looking  down 
upon  the  Square. 


384  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"It's  Blake,  trying  to  speak.  They're  giving 
him  the  ovation  of  his  life!" 

Katherine's  face  set.  "H'm!"  said  Billy 
grimly,  and  plunged  again  into  his  dictation. 
Now  and  then  the  uproar  that  followed  a  happy 
phrase  of  Blake  almost  drowned  the  voice  of 
Billy,  now  and  then  Old  Hosie  from  his  post  at 
the  window  broke  in  with  a  sentence  of  descrip- 
tion of  the  tumultuous  scene  without;  but 
despite  these  interruptions  the  story  rattled 
swiftly  on.  Again  and  again  Billy  ran  to  the 
sink  at  the  back  of  the  office  and  let  the  clearing 
water  splash  over  his  head;  his  collar  was  a 
shapeless  rag;  he  had  to  keep  thrusting  his 
dripping  hair  back  from  his  forehead;  his  slight, 
chilled  body  was  shivering  in  every  member; 
but  the  story  kept  coming,  coming,  coming, 
a  living,  throbbing  creation  from  his  thin  and 
twitching  lips. 

As  Katherine's  flying  hands  set  down  the 
words,  she  thrilled  as  though  this  story  were  a 
thing  entirely  new  to  her.  For  Billy  Harper, 
whatever  faults  inheritance  or  habit  had  fixed 
upon  him,  was  a  reporter  straight  from  God. 
His  trained  mind  had  instantly  seized  upon  and 
mastered  all  the  dramatic  values  of  the  compli- 
cated story,  and  his  English,  though  crude  and 
rough-and-tumble  from  his  haste,  was  vivid 
passionate,  rousing.  He  told  how  Doctor  West 
was  the  victim  of  a  plot,  a  plot  whose  great 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         385 

victim  was  the  city  and  people  of  Westville, 
and  this  plot  he  outlined  in  all  its  details.  He 
told  of  Doctor  Sherman's  part,  at  Blake's 
compulsion.  He  told  of  the  secret  league  be- 
tween Blake  and  Peck.  He  declared  the  truth 
of  the  charges  for  which  Bruce  was  then  lying 
in  the  county  jail.  And  finally  —  though  this 
he  did  at  the  beginning  of  his  story  —  he  drove 
home  in  his*  most  nerve-twanging  words  the 
fact  that  Blake  the  benefactor,  Blake  the  ap- 
plauded, was  the  direct  cause  of  the  typhoid 
epidemic. 

As  a  fresh  sheet  was  being  run  into  the  machine 
toward  the  end  of  the  story  there  was  another 
tremendous  outburst  from  the  Square,  surpass- 
ing even  the  one  of  half  an  hour  before. 

"Blake's  just  finished  his  speech,"  called 
Old  Hosie  from  the  window.  "The  crowd 
wants  to  carry  him  on  their  shoulders. " 

"They'd  better  hurry  up;  this  is  one  of  their 
last  chances!"  cried  Billy. 

Then  he  saw  the  foreman  enter  with  a  look 
of  concern.  "Any  thing  wrong,  Jake?" 

"One  of  the  linotype  men  has  skipped  out," 
was  the  answer. 

"Well,  what  of  that?"  said  Harper.  "You've 
got  one  left." 

"It  means  that  we'll  be  delayed  in  getting 
out  the  paper.  I  hadn't  noticed  it  before, 
but  Grant's  been  gone  some  time.  We're  quite 


386  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

a  bit  behind  you,  and  Simmons  alone  can't 
begin  to  handle  that  copy  as  fast  as  you're 
sending  it  down." 

"Do  the  best  you  can,"  said  Billy. 

He  started  at  the  dictation  again.  Then  he 
broke  off  and  called  sharply  to  the  foreman: 

"Hold  on,  Jake.  D'you  suppose  Grant 
slipped  out  to  give  the  story  away?" 

"  I  don't  know.    But  Grant  was  a  Blake  man." 

Billy  swore  under  his  breath. 

"But  he  hadn't  seen  the  best  part  of  the 
story,"  said  the  foreman.  "I'd  given  him  only 
that  part  about  Blake  and  Peck. " 

"Well,  anyhow,  it's  too  late  for  him  to  hurt 
us  any,"  said  Billy,  and  once  more  plunged 
into  the  dictation. 

Fifteen  minutes  later  the  story  was  finished, 
and  Katherine  leaned  back  in  her  chair  with 
aching  arms,  while  Billy  wrote  a  lurid  head- 
line across  the  entire  front  page.  With  this  he 
rushed  down  into  the  composing-room  to  give 
orders  about  the  make-up.  When  he  returned 
he  carried  a  bunch  of  long  strips. 

"These  are  the  proofs  of  the  whole  thing, 
documents  and  all,  except  the  last  part  of  the 
story,"  he  said.  "Let's  see  if  they've  got  it 
all  straight. " 

He  laid  the  proofs  on  Katherine's  desk  and 
was  drawing  a  chair  up  beside  her,  when  the 
telephone  rang. 


BILLY  HARPER  WRITES  A  STORY         387 

"Who  can  want  to  talk  to  us  at  such  an 
hour?"  he  impatiently  exclaimed,  taking  up 
the  receiver. 

"Hello!  Who's  this?  .  .  .  What!  .  .  . 
All  right.  Hold  the  wire." 

With  a  surprised  look  he  pushed  the  telephone 
toward  Katherine. 

"Somebody  to  talk  to  you,"  he  said. 

"To  talk  to  me!"  exclaimed  Katherine. 
"Who?" 

"Harrison  Blake,"  said  Billy. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

KATHERINE    FACES   THE    ENEMY 

KATHERINE   took   up   the   receiver  in 
tremulous  hands. 
"Hello!     Is  this  Mr.  Blake?" 

"Yes,"  came  a  familiar  voice  over  the  wire. 
"Is  this  Miss  West?" 

"Yes.     What  is  it?" 

"I  have  a  matter  which  I  wish  to  discuss  with 
you  immediately." 

"I  am  engaged  for  this  evening,"  she  returned, 
as  calmly  as  she  could.  "If  to-morrow  you 
still  desire  to  see  me,  I  can  possibly  arrange 
it  then. " 

"I  must  see  you  to-night  —  at  once!"  he 
insisted.  "It  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance. Not  so  much  to  me  as  to  you," 
he  added  meaningly. 

"If  it  is  so  important,  then  suppose  you 
come  here,"  she  replied. 

"I  cannot  possibly  do  so.  I  am  bound  here 
by  a  number  of  affairs.  I  have  anticipated 
that  you  would  come,  and  have  sent  my  car 
for  you.  It  will  be  there  in  two  minutes." 

388 


KATHERINE  FACES  THE  ENEMY          389 

Katharine  put  her  hand  over  the  mouthpiece, 
and  repeated  Blake's  request  to  Old  Hosie 
and  Billy  Harper. 

"What  shall  I  do?"  she  asked. 

"Tell  him  to  go  to!"  said  Billy  promptly. 
"You've  got  him  where  you  want  him.  Don't 
pay  any  more  attention  to  him." 

"I'd  like  to  know  what  he's  up  to,"  mused 
Old  Hosie. 

"And  so  would  I, "  agreed  Katherine,  thought- 
fully. "I  can't  do  anything  more  here;  he  can't 
hurt  me;  so  I  guess  I'll  go." 

She  removed  her  hand  from  the  mouthpiece 
and  leaned  toward  it. 

"Where  are  you,  Mr.  Blake?" 

"At  my  home." 

"Very  well.     I  am  coming." 

She  stood  up. 

"Will  you  come  with  me?"  she  asked  Old 
Hosie. 

"Of  course,"  said  the  old  lawyer  with  alac- 
rity. And  then  he  chuckled.  "I'd  like  to 
see  how  the  Senator  looks  to-night!" 

"I'll  just  take  these  proofs  along,"  she  said, 
thrusting  them  inside  her  coat. 

The  next  instant  she  and  Old  Hosie  were 
hurrying  down  the  stairway.  As  they  came 
into  the  street  the  Westville  Brass  Band  blew 
the  last  notes  of  "Columbia,  the  Gem  of  the 
Ocean,"  out  of  cornets  and  trombones;  the  great 


390  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

crowd,  intoxicated  with  enthusiasm,  responded 
with  palm-blistering  applause;  and  then  the 
candidate  for  president  of  the  city  council 
arose  to  make  his  oratorical  contribution.  He 
had  got  no  further  than  his  first  period  when 
Blake's  automobile  glided  up  before  the  Express 
office,  and  at  once  Katherine  and  Old  Hosie 
stepped  into  the  tonneau. 

They  sped  away  from  this  maelstrom  of 
excitement  into  the  quiet  residential  streets, 
Katherine  wondering  what  Blake  desired  to  see 
her  about,  and  wondering  if  there  could  possibly 
be  some  flaw  in  her  plan  that  she  had  overlooked, 
and  if  after  all  Blake  still  had  some  weapon  in 
reserve  with  which  he  could  defeat  her.  Five 
minutes  later  they  were  at  Blake's  door.  They 
were  instantly  admitted,  and  Katherine  was 
informed  that  Blake  awaited  her  in  his  library. 

She  had  had  no  idea  in  what  state  of  mind 
she  would  find  Blake,  but  she  had  at  least 
expected  to  find  him  alone.  But  instead,  when 
she  entered  the  library  with  Old  Hosie,  a  small 
assembly  rose  to  greet  her.  There  was  Blake, 
Blind  Charlie  Peck,  Manning,  and  back  in  a 
shadowy  corner  a  rather  rotund  gentleman, 
whom  she  had  observed  in  Westville  the  last 
few  days,  and  whom  she  knew  to  be  Mr.  Brown 
of  the  National  Electric  &  Water  Company. 

Blake's  face  was  pale  and  set,  and  his  dark 
eyes  gleamed  with  an  unusual  brilliance.  But 


KATHERINE  FACES  THE  ENEMY          391 

in  his  compressed  features  Katherine  could 
read  nothing  of  what  was  in  his  mind. 

"Good  evening,"  he  said  with  cold  politeness. 

"Will  you  please  sit  down,  Miss  West. 
And  you  also,  Mr.  Hollingsworth. " 

Katherine  thanked  him  with  a  nod,  and  seated 
herself.  She  found  her  chair  so  placed  that  she 
was  the  centre  of  the  gaze  of  the  little  assembly. 

"I  take  it  for  granted,  Miss  West,"  Blake 
began  steadily,  formally,  "that  you  are  aware 
of  the  reason  for  my  requesting  you  to  come 
here." 

"On  the  other  hand,  I  must  confess  myself 
entirely  ignorant,"  Katherine  quietly  returned. 

"  Pardon  me  if  I  am  forced  to  believe  otherwise. 
But  nevertheless,  I  will  explain.  It  has  come 
to  me  that  you  are  now  engaged  in  getting  out 
an  issue  of  the  Express,  in  which  you  charge 
that  Mr.  Peck  and  myself  are  secretly  in  col- 
lusion to  defraud  the  city.  Is  that  correct?" 

"Entirely  so,"  said  Katherine. 

She  felt  full  command  of  herself,  yet  every 
instant  she  was  straining  to  peer  ahead  and 
discover,  before  it  fell,  the  suspected  counter- 
stroke. 

"Before  going  further,"  Blake  continued, 
"I  will  say  that  Mr.  Peck  and  I,  though  personal 
and  political  enemies,  must  join  forces  against 
such  a  libel  directed  at  us  both.  This  will 
explain  Mr.  Peck's  presence  in  my  house  for 


392  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

the  first  time  in  his  life.  Now,  to  resume  our 
business.  What  you  are  about  to  publish  is 
a  libel.  It  is  for  your  sake,  chiefly,  that  I 
have  asked  you  here." 

"For  my  sake?" 

"For  your  sake.  To  warn  you,  if  you  are  not 
already  aware  of  it,  of  the  danger  you  are 
plunging  into  headlong.  But  surely  you  are 
acquainted  with  our  libel  laws. " 

"lam." 

His  face,  aside  from  its  cold,  set  look,  was  still 
without  expression;  his  voice  was  low-pitched 
and  steady. 

"Then  of  course  you  understand  your  risk," 
he  continued.  "You  have  had  a  mild  illus- 
tration of  the  working  of  the  law  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Bruce.  But  the  case  against  him  was 
not  really  pressed.  The  court  might  not  deal 
so  leniently  with  you.  I  believe  you  get  my 
meaning?" 

"Perfectly,"  said  Katherine. 

There  was  a  silence.  Katherine  was  deter- 
mined not  to  speak  first,  but  to  force  Blake  to 
take  the  lead. 

"Well?"  said  he. 

"I  was  waiting  to  hear  what  else  you  had  to 
say,"  she  replied. 

"Well,  you  are  aware  that  what  you  purpose 
printing  is  a  most  dangerous  libel?" 

"I  am  aware  that  you  seem  to  think  it  so." 


KATHERINE  FACES  THE  ENEMY          393 

"There  is  no  thinking  about  it;  it  is  libel!" 
he  returned.  For  the  first  time  there  was  a 
little  sharpnesss  in  his  voice.  "And  now, 
what  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"What  do  you  want  me  to  do?" 

1  Suppress  the  paper." 

"Is  that  advice,  or  a  wish,  or  a  command?" 

"Suppose  I  say  all  three." 

Her  eyes  did  not  leave  his  pale,  intent  face. 
She  was  instantly  more  certain  that  he  had 
some  weapon  in  reserve.  But  still  she  failed 
to  guess  what  it  might  be. 

"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do?"  he  re- 
peated. 

" I  am  going  to  print  the  paper,"  said  Kath- 
erine. 

An  instant  of  stupefied  silence  followed  her 
quiet  answer. 

"You  are,  are  you?"  cried  Blind  Charlie, 
springing  up.  "Well,  let  me " 

"Sit  down,  Peck!"  Blake  ordered  sharply 

"Come,  give  me  a  chance  at  her!" 

"Sit  down!  I'm  handling  this!"  Blake  cried 
with  sudden  harshness. 

"Well,  then,  show  her  where  she's  at!" 
grumbled  Blind  Charlie,  subsiding  into  his 
chair. 

Blake  turned  back  to  Katherine.  His  face 
was  again  impassive. 

"And  so  it  is  your  intention  to  commit  this 


394  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

monstrous  libel?"  he  asked  in  his  former  com- 
posed tone. 

"Perhaps  it  is  not  libel,"  said  Katherine. 

"You  mean  that  you  think  you  have  proofs?" 

"No.     That  is  not  my  meaning." 

"What  then  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  that  I  have  proofs." 

"Ah,  at  last  we  are  coming  to  the  crux  of  the 
matter.  Since  you  have  proofs  for  your  state- 
ments, you  think  there  is  no  libel?" 

"I  believe  that  is  sound  law, "  said  Katherine. 

"It  is  sound  enough  law,"  he  said.  He 
leaned  toward  her,  and  there  was  now  the  glint 
of  triumph  in  his  eyes.  "But  suppose  the 
proofs  were  not  sound?" 

Katherine  started. 

"The  proofs  not  sound?" 

"Yes.  I  suppose  your  article  is  based  upon 
testimony?" 

"Of  course." 

His  next  words  were  spoken  slowly,  that  each 
might  sink  deeply  in. 

"Well,  suppose  your  witnesses  had  found  they 
were  mistaken  and  had  repudiated  their  testi- 
mony? What  then?" 

She  sank  back  in  her  chair.  At  last  the 
expected  blow  had  fallen.  She  sat  dazed, 
thinking  wildly.  Had  they  got  to  Doctor 
Sherman  since  she  had  seen  him,  and  forced 
him  to  recant  ?  Had  Manning,  offered  the  world 


KATHERINE  FACES  THE  ENEMY         395 

by  them  in  this  crisis,  somehow  sold  her  out? 
She  searched  the  latter's  face  with  conster- 
nation. But  he  wore  a  rather  stolid  look  that 
told  her  nothing. 

Blake  read  the  effect  of  his  words  in  her  white 
face  and  dismayed  manner. 

"Suppose  they  have  repudiated  their  state- 
ments? What  then?"  he  crushingly  persisted. 

She  caught  desperately  at  her  courage  and 
her  vanishing  triumph. 

"But  they  have  not  repudiated." 

"You  think  not?    You  shall  see!" 

He  turned  to  Blind  Charlie.  "Tell  him  to 
step  in." 

Blind  Charlie  moved  quickly  to  a  side  door. 
Katherine  leaned  forward  and  stared  after 
him,  breathless,  her  heart  stilled.  She  expected 
the  following  moment  to  see  the  slender  figure 
of  Doctor  Sherman  enter  the  room,  and  hear 
his  pallid  lips  deny  he  had  ever  made  the 
confession  of  a  few  hours  before. 

Blind  Charlie  opened  the  door. 

"They're  ready  for  you,"  he  called. 

It  was  all  Katherine  could  do  to  keep  from 
springing  up  and  letting  out  a  sob  of  relief. 
For  it  was  not  Doctor  Sherman  who  entered. 
It  was  the  broad  and  sumptuous  presence  of 
Elijah  Stone,  detective.  He  crossed  and  stood 
before  Blake. 

"Mr.  Stone,"  said  Blake,  sharply,  "I  want 


396  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

you  to  answer  a  few  questions  for  the  benefit 
of  Miss  West.  First  of  all,  you  were  employed 
by  Miss  West  on  a  piece  of  detective  work, 
were  you  not?" 

"I  was,"  said  Mr.  Stone,  avoiding  Katherine's 
eye. 

"And  the  nature  of  your  employment  was 
to  try  to  discover  evidence  of  an  alleged  con- 
spiracy against  the  city  on  my  part?" 

"It  was." 

"And  you  made  to  her  certain  reports?" 

"I  did." 

"Let  me  inform  you  that  she  has  used  those 
reports  as  the  basis  of  a  libellous  story  which 
she  is  about  to  print.  Now  answer  me,  did 
you  give  her  any  real  evidence  that  would  stand 
the  test  of  a  court  room?" 

Mr.  Stone  gazed  at  the  ceiling. 

"My  statements  to  her  were  mere  surmises," 
he  said  with  the  glibness  of  a  rehearsed  answer. 
"Nothing  but  conjecture  —  no  evidence  at  all." 

"What  is  your  present  belief  concerning 
these  conjectures?" 

"  I  have  since  discovered  that  my  conjectures 
were  all  mistakes." 

"That  will  do,  Mr.  Stone!" 

Blake  turned  quickly  upon  Katherine.  "  Well, 
now  what  have  you  got  to  say?"  he  demanded. 

She  could  have  laughed  in  her  joy. 

"First  of  all,"  she  called  to  the  withdrawing 


KATHERINE  FACES  THE  ENEMY          397 

detective,  "I  have  this  to  say  to  you,  Mr. 
Stone.  When  you  sold  out  to  these  people,  I 
hope  you  made  them  pay  you  well. " 

The  detective  flushed,  but  he  had  no  chance 
to  reply. 

"This  is  no  time  for  levity,  Miss  West!" 
Blake  said  sharply.  "  Now  you  see  your  predica- 
ment. Now  you  see  what  sort  of  testimony 
your  libel  is  built  upon." 

"But  my  libel  is  not  built  upon  that  testi- 
mony." 

"Not   built "      He  now  first  observed 

that  Katherine  was  smiling.  "What  do  you 
mean?" 

"Just  what  I  said.  That  my  story  is  not 
based  on  Mr.  Stone's  testimony." 

There  were  exclamations  from  Mr.  Brown 
and  Blind  Charlie. 

"Eh  — what?"  said  Blake.  "But  you  hired 
Stone  as  a  detective?" 

"And  he  was  eminently  successful  in  carrying 
out  the  purpose  for  which  I  hired  him.  That 
purpose  was  to  be  watched,  and  bought  off, 
by  you." 

Blake  sank  back  and  stared  at  her. 

"Then  your  story  is  based ': 

"Partly  on  the  testimony  of  Doctor  Sher- 
man," she  said. 

Blake  came  slowly  up  to  his  feet. 

"Doctor  Sherman?"  he  breathed. 


398  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Yes,  of  Doctor  Sherman." 

Blind  Charlie  moved  quickly  forward. 

"What's  that?"  he  cried. 

"It's  not  true!"  burst  from  Blake's  lips. 
"Doctor  Sherman  is  in  Canada!" 

"When  I  saw  him  two  hours  ago  he  was  at 
his  wife's  bedside." 

"It's  not  true!"  Blake  huskily  repeated. 

"And  I  might  add,  Mr.  Blake,"  Katherine 
pursued,  "that  he  made  a  full  statement  of 
everything  —  everything!  —  and  that  he  gave 
me  a  signed  confession." 

Blake  stared  at  her  blankly.  A  sickly  pallor 
was  creeping  over  his  face. 

Katherine  stood  up. 

"And  I  might  furthermore  add,  gentlemen," 
she  went  on,  now  also  addressing  Blind  Charlie, 
"that  I  know  all  about  the  water-works  deal, 
and  the  secret  agreement  among  you. " 

"Hold  on!  You're  going  too  far!"  the  old 
politician  cried  savagely.  "You've  got  no  evi- 
dence against  me!" 

"I  could  hardly  help  having  it,  since  I  was 
present  at  your  proceedings. " 

"You?" 

"Personally  and  by  proxy.  I  am  the  agent 
of  Mr.  Seymour  of  New  York.  Mr.  Hartsell 
here,  otherwise  Mr.  Manning,  has  represented 
me,  and  has  turned  over  to  me  the  agreement 
you  signed  to-day." 


KATHERINE  FACES  THE  ENEMY         399 

They  whirled  about  upon  Manning,  who 
continued  unperturbed  in  his  chair. 

"What  she  says  is  straight,  gentlemen," 
he  said.  "I  have  only  been  acting  for  Miss 
West." 

A  horrible  curse  fell  from  the  thick,  loose 
lips  of  Blind  Charlie  Peck.  Blake,  his  sickly 
pallor  deepening,  stared  from  Manning  to 
Katherine. 

"It  isn't  so!  It  can't  be  so!"  he  breathed 
wildly. 

"If  you  want  to  see  just  what  I've  got,  here 
it  is,"  said  Katherine,  and  she  tossed  the  bundle 
of  proofs  upon  the  desk. 

Blake  seized  the  sheets  in  feverish  hands. 
Blind  Charlie  stepped  to  his  side,  and  Mr. 
Brown  slipped  forward  out  of  his  corner  and 
peered  over  their  shoulders.  First  they  saw 
the  two  facsimiles,  then  their  eyes  swept  in 
the  leading  points  of  Billy  Harper's  fiery  story. 
Then  a  low  cry  escaped  from  Blake.  He  had 
come  upon  Billy  Harper's  great  page-wide 
headline: 

"BLAKE  CONSPIRES  TO  SWINDLE  WESTVILLE; 
DIRECT  CAUSE  OF  CITY?S  SICK  AND  DEAD." 

At  that  Blake  collapsed  into  his  chair  and 
gazed  with  ashen  face  at  the  black,  accusing 
letters.  This  relentless  summary  of  the  situation 
appalled  them  all  into  a  moment's  silence. 


400  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

Blind  Charlie  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"That  paper  must  never  come  out!"  he 
shouted. 

Blake  raised  his  gray-hued  face. 

"How  are  you  going  to  stop  it?" 

"Here's  how,"  cried  Peck,  his  one  eye  ablaze 
with  fierce  energy.  "That  crowd  at  the  Square 
is  still  all  for  you,  Blake.  Don't  let  the  girl  out 
of  the  house!  I'll  rush  to  the  Square,  rouse  the 
mob  properly,  and  they'll  raid  the  office, 
rip  up  the  presses,  plates,  paper,  every  damned 
thing!" 

"  No  —  no  —  I'll  not  stand  for  that ! "  Blake 
burst  out. 

But  Blind  Charlie  had  already  started  quickly 
away.  Not  so  quickly,  however,  but  that  the 
very  sufficient  hand  of  Manning  was  about 
his  wrist  before  he  reached  the  door. 

"I  guess  we  won't  be  doing  that  to-night, 
Mr.  Peck,"  Manning  said  quietly. 

The  old  politician  stood  shaking  with  rage 
and  erupting  profanity.  But  presently  this 
subsided,  and  he  stood,  as  did  the  others,  gazing 
down  at  Blake.  Blake  sat  in  his  chair,  silent, 
motionless,  with  scarcely  a  breath,  his  eyes 
fixed  on  the  headline.  His  look  was  as  ghastly 
as  a  dead  man's,  a  look  of  utter  ruin,  of  ruin 
so  terrible  and  complete  that  his  dazed  mind 
could  hardly  comprehend  it. 

There  was  a  space  of  profound  silence  in  the 


KATHERINE  FACES  THE  ENEMY         401 

room.  But  after  a  time  Blind  Charlie's  face 
grew  malignantly,  revengefully  jocose. 

"Well,  Blake,"  said  he,  "I  guess  this  won't 
hurt  me  much  after  all.  I  guess  I  haven't 
much  reputation  to  lose.  But  as  for  you,  who 
started  this  business  —  you  the  pure,  moral, 
high-minded  reformer >: 

He  interrupted  himself  by  raising  a  hand. 

"Listen!" 

Faintly,  from  the  direction  of  the  Square, 
came  the  dim  roar  of  cheering,  and  then  the  out- 
burst of  the  band.  Blind  Charlie,  with  a  cynical 
laugh,  clapped  a  hand  upon  Blake's  shoulder. 

"Don't  you  hear  'em,  Blake?  Brace  up!  The 
people  still  are  for  you!" 

Blake  did  not  reply.  The  old  man  bent 
down,  his  face  now  wholly  hard. 

"And  anyhow,  Blake,  I'm  getting  this  satis- 
faction out  of  the  business.  I've  had  it  in  for 
you  for  a  dozen  years,  and  now  you're  going  to 
get  it  good  and  plenty!  Good  night  and  to 
hell  with  you!" 

Blake  did  not  look  up.  Manning  slipped 
an  arm  through  the  old  man's. 

"I'll  go  along  with  you  for  a  little  while," 
said  Manning  quietly.  "Just  to  see  that  you 
don't  start  any  trouble. " 

As  the  pair  were  going  out  Mr.  Brown,  who 
had  thus  far  not  said  a  single  word,  bent  his 
.fatherly  figure  over  Blake. 


402  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Of  course,  you  realize,  Mr.  Blake,  that  our 
relations  are  necessarily  at  an  end,"  he  said  in 
a  low  voice. 

"Of  course,"    Blake  said  dully. 

"I'm  very  sorry  we  cannot  help  you,  but  of 
course  you  realize  we  cannot  afford  to  be  in- 
volved in  a  mess  like  this.  Good  night."  And 
he  followed  the  others  out,  Old  Hosie  behind 
him. 

For  a  space  Katherine  stood  alone,  gazing 
down  upon  Blake's  bowed  and  silent  figure. 
Now  that  it  was  all  over,  now  that  his  allies 
had  all  deserted  him,  to  see  this  man  whom  she 
had  known  as  so  proud,  so  strong,  so  admired, 
with  such  a  boundless  future  —  who  had  once 
been  her  own  ideal  of  a  great  man  —  who  had 
once  declared  himself  her  lover  —  to  see  this 
man  now  brought  so  low,  stirred  in  her  a  strange 
emotion,  in  which  there  was  something  of  pity, 
something  of  sympathy,  and  a  tugging  remem- 
brance of  the  love  he  long  ago  had  offered. 

But  the  noise  of  the  front  door  closing  upon 
the  men  recalled  her  to  herself,  and  very  softly, 
so  as  not  to  disturb  him,  she  started  away.  Her 
hand  was  on  the  knob,  when  there  sounded  a  dry 
and  husky  voice  from  behind  her. 

"Wait,  Katherine!     Wait!" 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


AN  IDOL'S  FALL 


SHE  turned.     Blake   had   risen   from  his 
chair. 
"What  is  it?"  she  asked. 

He  came  up  to  her,  the  proofs  still  in  his 
hands.  He  was  unsteady  upon  his  feet,  like 
a  man  dizzy  from  a  heavy  blow.  The  face 
which  she  had  been  accustomed  to  see  only 
as  full  of  poise  and  strength  and  dignity  was 
now  supremely  haggard.  When  he  spoke  he 
spoke  in  uttermost  despair  —  huskily,  chokingly, 
yet  with  an  effort  at  control. 

"Do  you  know  what  this  is  going  to  do 
to  me?"  he  asked,  holding  out  the  proof- 
sheets. 

"Yes,"    she   said. 

"  It  is  going  to  ruin  me  —  reputation,  for- 
tune, future!  Everything!" 

She   did   not  answer  him. 

"Yes,  that  is  going  to  be  the  result,"  he  con- 
tinued in  his  slow,  husky  voice.  "Only  one 
thing  can  save  me." 

"And  that?" 

403 


404  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

He  stared  at  her  for  a  moment  with  wildly 
burning  eyes.  Then  he  wet  his  dry  lips. 

"That  is  for  you  to  countermand  this 
extra." 

"You  ask  me  to  do  that?" 

"It  is  my  only  chance.     I  do." 

"I  believe  you  are  out  of  your  mind!"  she 
cried. 

"I  believe  I  am!"  he  said  hoarsely. 

"Think  just  a  moment,  and  you  will  see 
that  what  you  ask  is  quite  impossible.  Just 
think  a  moment." 

He  was  silent  for  a  time.  A  tremor  ran 
through  him,  his  body  stiffened. 

"No,  I  do  not  ask  it,"  he  said.  "I  am  not 
trying  to  excuse  myself  now,  but  when  a  thing 
falls  so  unexpectedly,  so  suddenly "  A  chok- 
ing at  the  throat  stopped  him.  "If  I  have 
seemed  to  whimper,  I  take  it  back.  You  have 
beaten  me,  Katherine.  But  I  hope  I  can  take 
defeat  like  a  man." 

She   did   not  answer. 

They  continued  gazing  at  one  another.  In 
the  silence  of  the  great  house  they  could  hear 
each  other's  agitated  breathing.  Into  his 
dark  face,  now  turned  so  gray,  there  crept  a 
strange,  drawn  look  —  a  look  that  sent  a  ting- 
ling through  all  her  body. 

"What  is  it?"  she  asked. 

"To   think,"    he   exclaimed   in   a   low,   far- 


AN  IDOL'S  FALL  405 

away  voice,  almost  to  himself,  "that  I  have 
lost  everything  through  you!  Through  you, 
through  whom  I  might  have  gained  every- 
thing!" 

"Gained  everything?  Through  me?"  she 
repeated.  "How?" 

"I  am  sure  I  would  have  kept  out  of  such 
things  —  as  this  —  if,  five  years  ago,  you  had 
said  'yes*  instead  of  'no'." 

"Said  yes?"   she  breathed. 

"I  think  you  would  have  kept  me  in  the 
straight  road.  For  I  would  not  have  dared 
to  fall  below  your  standards.  For  I"  —  he 
drew  a  deep,  convulsive  breath  —  "for  I  loved 
you,  Katherine,  better  than  anything  in  all 
the  world!" 

She  trembled  at  the  intensity  of  his  voice. 

"You  loved  me  —  like  that?" 

"Yes.  And  since  I  have  lost  you,  and  lost 
everything,  there  is  perhaps  no  harm  in  my 
telling  you  something  else.  Only  on  that  one 
night  did  I  open  my  lips  about  love  to  you  — 
but  I  have  loved  you  through  all  the  years 
since  then.  And  .  .  .  and  I  still  love 
you." 

"You  still  love  me?"  she  whispered. 

"I  still  love  you." 

She  stared  at  him. 

"And  yet  all  these  months  you  have  fought 
against  me!" 


406  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"I  have  not  fought  against  you"  he  said. 
"Somehow,  I  got  started  in  this  way,  and  I 
have  fought  to  win  —  have  fought  against 
exposure,  against  defeat." 

"And  you  still  love  me?"  she  murmured, 
still  amazed. 

As  she  gazed  at  him  there  shot  into  her  a 
poignant  pang  of  pity  for  this  splendid  figure, 
tottering  on  the  edge  of  the  abyss.  For  an 
instant  she  thought  only  of  him. 

"You  asked  me  a  moment  ago  to  suppress 
the  paper,"  she  cried  impulsively.  "Shall  I 
do  it?" 

"I  now  ask  nothing,"  said  he. 

"No  —  no  —  I  can't  suppress  the  paper!" 
she  said  in  anguish.  "That  would  be  to  leave 
father  disgraced,  and  Mr.  Bruce  disgraced,  and 
the  city But  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"I  do  not  know.  This  has  come  so  suddenly. 
I  have  had  no  time  to  think." 

"You  must  at  least  have  time  to  think!  If 
you  had  an  hour  —  two  hours?" 

There  was  a  momentary  flash  of  hope  in  his 
eyes. 

"If  I  had  an  hour- 

"Then  we'll  delay  the  paper!"  she  cried. 

She  sprang  excitedly  to  the  telephone  upon 
Blake's  desk.  The  next  instant  she  had  Billy 
Harper  on  the  wire,  Blake  watching  her,  motion- 
less in  his  tracks. 


AN  IDOL'S  FALL  407 

"Mr.  Harper,"  she  said,  "it  is  now  half- 
past  ten.  I  want  you  to  hold  the  paper  back 
till  eleven-thirty.  .  .  .  What's  that?" 

She  listened  for  a  moment,  then  slowly  hung 
up  the  receiver.  She  did  not  at  once  turn 
round,  but  when  she  did  her  face  was  very 
white. 

"Well?"  Blake  asked. 

"I'm  sorry,"  she  said,  barely  above  a  whis- 
per. "The  paper  has  been  upon  the  street 
for  ten  minutes." 

They  gazed  at  one  another  for  several  mo- 
ments, both  motionless,  both  without  a  word. 
Then  thin,  sharp  cries  penetrated  the  room. 
Blake's  lips  parted. 

"What  is  that?"  he  asked  mechanically. 

Katherine  crossed  and  raised  a  window. 
Through  it  came  shrill,  boyish  voices: 

"Extry!  Extry!  All  about  the  great  Blake 
conspiracy!" 

These  avant  couriers  of  Blake's  disgrace 
sped  onward  down  the  avenue.  Katherine 
turned  slowly  back  to  Blake.  He  still  stood 
in  the  same  posture,  leaning  heavily  upon  an 
arm  that  rested  on  his  mahogany  desk.  He 
did  not  speak.  Nor  was  there  anything  that 
Katherine  could  say. 

It  was  for  but  a  moment  or  two  that  they 
stood  in  this  strained  silence.  Then  a  dim 
outcry  sounded  from  the  centre  of  the  town. 


4o8  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

In  but  a  second,  it  seemed,  this  outcry  had 
mounted  to  a  roar. 

"It  is  the  crowd  —  at  the  Square,"  said 
Blake,  in  a  dry  whisper. 

"Yes." 

"The  extra  —  they  have   seen   it." 

The  roar  rose  louder  —  louder.  It  was  like 
the  thunder  of  an  on-rushing  flood  that  has 
burst  its  dam.  It  began  to  separate  into  dis- 
tinct cries,  and  the  shuffle  of  running  feet. 

"They  are  coming  this  way,"  said  Blake  in 
his  same  dry,  mechanical  tone. 

There  was  no  need  for  Katherine  to  reply. 
The  fact  was  too  apparent.  She  moved  to  the 
open  window,  and  stood  there  waiting.  The 
roar  grew  nearer  —  nearer.  In  but  a  mo- 
ment, it  seemed  to  her,  the  front  of  this  human 
flood  appeared  just  beyond  her  own  house. 
The  next  moment  the  crowd  began  to  pour 
into  Blake's  wide  lawn  —  by  the  hundreds  — 
by  the  thousands.  Many  of  them  still  carried 
in  clenched  hands  crumpled  copies  of  the 
Express.  Here  and  there,  luridly  illuminating 
the  wild  scene,  blazed  a  smoking  torch  of  a 
member  of  the  Blake  Marching  Club.  And 
out  of  the  mouths  of  this  great  mob,  which  less 
than  a  short  hour  before  had  lauded  him  to 
the  stars  —  out  of  the  mouths  of  these  his 
erewhile  idolaters,  came  the  most  fearful  im- 
precations, the  most  fearful  cries  for  vengeance. 


AN  IDOL'S  FALL  409 

Katherine  became  aware  that  Blake  was 
standing  behind  her  gazing  down  upon  this 
human  storm.  She  turned,  and  in  his  pallid 
face  she  plainly  read  the  passionate  regret  that 
was  surging  through  his  being.  His  had  been 
the  chance  to  serve  these  people,  and  serve 
them  with  honour  to  himself  —  honour  that 
hardly  had  a  limit.  And  now  he  had  lost 
them,  lost  them  utterly  and  forever,  and  with 
them  had  lost  everything! 

Some  one  below  saw  his  face  at  the  window 
and  swore  shriekingly  to  have  his  life.  Blake 
drew  quickly  back  and  stood  again  beside  his 
desk.  He  was  white  —  living  flesh  could  not 
be  more  white  —  but  he  still  maintained  that 
calm  control  which  had  succeeded  his  first 
desperate  consternation. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  Katherine 
asked. 

He  very  quietly  drew  out  a  drawer  of  his  desk 
and  picked  up  a  pistol. 

"What!"  she  cried.  "You  are  not  going  to 
fight  them  off!" 

"No.  I  have  injured  enough  of  them  al- 
ready," he  replied  in  his  measured  tone.  "  Keep 
all  this  from  my  mother  as  long  as  you  can  — 
at  least  till  she  is  stronger." 

As  she  saw  his  intention  Katherine  sprang 
forward  and  caught  the  weapon  he  was  turning 
upon  himself. 


410  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"No!     No!     You  must  not  do  that!" 

"But  I  must,"  he  returned  quietly.  "Listen!" 

The  cries  without  had  grown  more  violent. 
The  heavy  front  door  was  resounding  with  blows. 

"Don't  you  see  that  this  is  the  only  thing 
that's  left?"  he  asked. 

"And  don't  you  see,"  she  said  rapidly,  "its 
effect  upon  your  mother?  In  her  weakened 
condition,  your  death  will  be  her  death.  You 
just  said  you  had  injured  enough  already. 
Do  you  want  to  kill  one  more?  And  besides, 
and  in  spite  of  all,"  she  added  with  a  sudden 
fire,  "there's  a  big  man  in  you!  Face  it  like 
that  man!" 

He  hesitated.  Then  he  relaxed  his  hold 
upon  the  pistol,  still  without  speaking.  Kather- 
ine  returned  it  to  its  place  and  closed  the 
drawer. 

At  this  instant  Old  Hosie,  who  had  been 
awaiting  Katherine  below,  rushed  excitedly 
into  the  library. 

"Don't  you  know  hell's  broke  loose?"  he 
cried  to  Katherine.  "They'll  have  that  front 
door  down  in  a  minute!  Come  on!" 

But  Katherine  could  not  take  her  gaze  from 
Blake's  pale,  set  face. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  she  asked  again. 

"What  is  he  going  to  do?"  exclaimed  Old 
Hosie.  "Better  ask  what  that  mob  is  going  to 
do.  Listen  to  them!" 


AN  IDOL'S  FALL  411 

A  raging  cry  for  Blake's  life  ascended,  almost 
deafening  their  ears. 

"No,  no  —  they  must  not  do  that!"  ex- 
claimed Katherine,  and  breathlessly  she  darted 
from  the  room. 

Old  Hosie  looked  grimly  at  Blake. 

"You  deserve  it,  Blake.  But  I'm  against 
mob  law.  Quick,  slip  out  the  back  way.  You 
can  just  catch  the  eleven  o'clock  express  and 
get  out  of  the  State." 

Without  waiting  to  see  the  effect  of  his  advice 
Old  Hosie  hurried  after  Katherine.  She  had 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  stairway  just  as  co- 
operated shoulders  crashed  against  the  door 
and  made  it  shiver  on  its  hinges.  Her  inten- 
tion was  to  go  out  and  speak  to  the  crowd,  but 
to  open  the  front  door  was  to  admit  and  be 
overwhelmed  by  the  maddened  mob.  She  knew 
the  house  almost  as  well  as  she  knew  her  own, 
and  she  recalled  that  the  dining-room  had  a 
French  window  which  opened  upon  the  piazza 
on  the  side  away  from  the  crowd.  She  ran 
back  through  the  darkened  rooms,  swung  open 
this  window  and  ran  about  the  piazza  to  the  front 
door.  As  she  reached  it,  the  human  battering- 
ram  drew  back  for  another  infuriated  lunge. 

She  sprang  between  the  men  and  the  door. 

"Stop!     Stop!"   she  cried. 

"What  the  hell's  this!"  ejaculated  the  leader 
of  the  assault. 


4i2  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Say,  if  it  ain't  a  woman!"  cried  a  member 
of  the  battering-ram. 

"Out  of  the  way  with  you!"  roared  the 
leader  in  a  fury. 

But  she  placed  her  back  against  the  door 

"Stop  —  men!     Give    me   just   one    word!" 

"Better  stop  this,  boys!"  gasped  a  man  at  the 
foot  of  the  steps,  struggling  in  half  a  dozen  pairs 
of  arms.  "I  warn  you!  It's  against  the  law!" 

"Shut  up,  Jim  Nichols;  this  is  our  business!" 
cried  the  leader  to  the  helpless  sheriff.  "And 
now,  you"  —  turning  again  to  Katherine  — 
"out  of  the  way!" 

The  seething,  torch-lit  mob  on  the  lawn  be- 
low repeated  his  cry.  The  leader,  his  wrath 
increasing,  seized  Katherine  roughly  by  the  arm 
and  jerked  her  aside: 

"Now,  all  together,  boys!"  he  shouted. 

But  at  that  instant  upon  the  front  of  the 
mob  there  fell  a  tall,  lean  fury  with  a  raging 
voice  and  a  furiously  swinging  cane.  It  was  Old 
Hosie.  Before  this  fierce  chastisement,  falling 
so  suddenly  upon  their  heads,  the  battering-ram 
for  a  moment  pressed  backward. 

"You  fools!  You  idiots!"  the  old  man  cried, 
and  his  high,  sharp  voice  cut  through  all  the 
noises  of  the  mob.  "Is  that  the  way  you  treat 
the  woman  that  saved  you!" 

"Saved  us?"  some  one  shouted  incredulously. 
"Her  save  us?" 


IDOL'S  FALL  413 

"Yes,  saved  you!"  Old  Hosie  cried  in  a  ris- 
ing voice  down  upon  the  heads  of  the  crowd. 
His  cane  had  ceased  its  nailing;  the  crowd  had 
partially  ceased  its  uproar.  "Do  you  know  who 
that  woman  is?  She's  Katherine  West!" 

"Oh,  the  lady  lawyer!"  rose  several  jeering 
voices. 

For  the  moment  Old  Hosie's  tall  figure,  with 
his  cane  outstretched,  had  the  wrathful  majesty 
of  a  prophet  of  old,  denouncing  his  foolish  and 
reprobate  people. 

"Go  on,  all  of  you,  laugh  at  her  to-night!" 
he  shouted.  "But  after  to-night  you'll  all 
slink  around  Westville,  ashamed  to  look  any- 
thing in  the  face  higher  than  a  dog!  For  half 
a  year  you've  been  sneering  at  Katherine  West. 
And  see  how  she's  paid  you  back!  It  was 
she  that  found  out  your  enemy.  It  was  she 
that  dug  up  all  the  facts  and  evidence  you've 
read  in  those  papers  there.  It  was  she  that's 
saved  you  from  being  robbed.  And  now " 

"She  done  all  that?"  exclaimed  a  voice  from 
the  now  stilled  mob. 

"Yes,  she  done  all  that!"  shouted  Old  Hosie. 
"And  what's  more,  she  got  out  that  paper  in 
your  hands.  While  you've  been  sneering  at 
her,  she's  been  working  for  you.  And  now, 
after  all  this,  you're  not  even  willing  to  listen 
to  a  word  from  her!"  His  voice  rose  in  its 
contemptuous  wrath  still  one  note  higher. 


414  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"And  now  listen  to  me!  I'm  going  to  tell 
you  exactly  what  you  are!  You  are  all 

But  Westville  never  learned  exactly  what 
it  was.  Just  then  Old  Hosie  was  firmly  pulled 
back  by  the  tails  of  his  Prince  Albert  coat  and 
found  himself  in  the  possession  of  the  panting, 
dishevelled  sheriff  of  Galloway  County. 

"YouVe  made  your  point,  Hosie,"  said  Jim 
Nichols.  "They'll  listen  to  her  now." 

Katherine  stepped  forward  into  the  space 
Old  Hosie  had  involuntarily  vacated.  With 
the  torchlights  flaring  up  into  her  face  she  stood 
there  breathing  deeply,  awed  into  momentary 
silence  by  the  great  crowd  and  by  the  respon- 
sibility that  weighed  upon  her. 

"If,  as  Mr.  Hollingsworth  has  said,"  she 
began  in  a  tremulous  but  clear  voice  that  carried 
to  the  farthest  confines  of  the  lawn,  "you  owe 
me  anything,  all  I  ask  in  return  is  that  you 
refrain  from  mob  violence";  and  she  went  on 
to  urge  upon  them  the  lawful  course.  The 
crowd,  taken  aback  by  the  accusations  and 
revelations  Old  Hosie  had  flung  so  hotly  into 
their  faces,  strangely  held  by  her  impassioned 
woman's  figure  pedestalled  above  them  on 
the  porch,  listened  to  her  with  an  attention 
and  respect  which  they  as  yet  were  far  from 
understanding. 

She  felt  that  she  had  won  her  audience,  that 
she  had  turned  them  back  to  lawful  measures, 


AN  IDOL'S  FALL  415 

Krhen  suddenly  there  was  a  roar  of  "Blake! 
Blake!"  —  the  stilled  crowd  became  again  a 
mob  —  and  she  saw  that  the  focus  of  their 
gaze  had  shifted  from  her  to  a  point  behind 
her.  Looking  about,  she  saw  that  the  door 
had  opened,  and  that  Blake,  pale  and  erect, 
was  standing  in  the  doorway.  The  crowd 
tried  to  surge  forward,  but  the  front  ranks, 
out  of  their  new  and  but  half-comprehended 
respect  for  Katherine,  stood  like  a  wall 
against  the  charge  that  would  have  over- 
whelmed her. 

Blake  moved  forward  to  her  side. 

"I  should  like  to  speak  to  them,  if  I  can," 
he  said  quietly. 

Katherine  held  up  her  hand  for  silence. 
The  mob  hissed  and  cursed  him,  and  tried  to 
break  through  the  human  fortification  of  the 
front  ranks.  Through  it  all  Blake  stood 
silent,  pale,  without  motion.  Katherine,  her 
hand  still  upraised,  continued  to  cry  out  for 
silence;  and  after  a  time  the  uproar  began  in 
a  measure  to  diminish. 

Katherine  took  quick  advantage  of  the  lull. 

"Gentlemen,"  she  called  out,  "won't  you 
please  give  Mr.  Blake  just  a  word!" 

Cries  that  they  should  give  him  a  chance 
to  speak  ran  through  the  crowd,  and  thus 
abjured  by  its  own  members  the  mob  quieted 
yet  further.  While  they  were  subsiding  into 


416  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

order  Blake  looked  steadily  out  upon  this  sea 
of  hostile  faces.  Katherine  watched  him  breath- 
lessly, wondering  what  he  was  about  to  say. 
It  swept  in  upon  her,  with  a  sudden  catching 
of  the  throat,  that  he  made  a  fine  figure  stand- 
ing there  so  straight,  so  white,  with  so  little 
sign  of  fear;  and  despite  what  the  man  had  done, 
again  some  of  her  old  admiration  for  him  thrilled 
through  her,  and  with  it  an  infinite  pang  of 
regret  for  what  he  might  have  been. 

At  length  there  was  moderate  order,  and 
Blake  began  to  speak.  "Gentlemen,  I  do  not 
wish  to  plead  for  myself,"  he  said  quietly,  yet 
in  his  far-carrying  voice.  "What  I  have  done 
is  beyond  your  forgiveness.  I  merely  desire 
to  say  that  I  am  guilty;  to  say  that  I  am  here 
to  give  myself  into  your  hands.  Do  with  me 
as  you  think  best.  If  you  prefer  immediate 
action,  I  shall  go  with  you  without  resistance. 
If  you  wish  to  let  the  law  take  its  course, 
then" —  here  he  made  a  slight  gesture  toward 
Jim  Nichols,  who  stood  beside  him  —  "then 
I  shall  give  myself  into  the  hands  of  the 
sheriff.  I  await  your  choice." 

With  that  he  paused.  A  perfect  hush  had 
fallen  on  the  crowd.  This  man  who  had  domi- 
nated them  in  the  days  of  his  glory,  dominated 
them  for  at  least  a  flickering  moment  in  this 
the  hour  of  his  fall.  For  that  brief  moment 
all  were  under  the  spell  of  their  habit  to  honour 


AN  IDOL'S  FALL  417 

him,  the  spell  of  his  natural  dignity,  the  spell 
of  his  direct  words. 

Then  the  spell  was  over.  The  storm  broke 
loose  again.  There  were  cries  for  immediate 
action,  and  counter  cries  in  favour  of  the  law. 
The  two  cries  battled  with  each  other.  For  a 
space  there  was  doubt  as  to  which  was  the 
stronger.  Then  that  for  the  law  rose  louder 
and  louder  and  drowned  the  other  out. 

Sheriff  Nichols  slipped  his  arm  through 
Blake's. 

"I  guess  you're  going  to  come  with  me," 
he  said. 

"I  am  ready,"  was  Blake's  response. 

He  turned  about  to  Katherine. 

"You  deserved  to  win,"  he  said  quietly. 
"Thank  you.  Good-by." 

"Good-by,"  said  she. 

The  sheriff  drew  him  away.  Katherine, 
panting,  leaning  heavily  against  a  pillar  of  the 
porch,  watched  the  pair  go  down  the  steps  — 
watched  the  great  crowd  part  before  them  — 
watched  them  march  through  this  human 
alley-way,  lighted  by  smoking  campaign  torches 
—  watched  them  till  they  had  passed  into  the 
darkness  in  the  direction  of  the  jail.  Then  she 
dizzily  reached  out  and  caught  Old  Hosie's  arm. 

"Help  me  home,"  she  said  weakly.  "I  —  I 
feel  sick." 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

THE    END    OF   THE    BEGINNING 

IT  WAS  the  following  night,  and  the  hour 
was  nine.  Old  Hosie  stood  in  the  sheriff's 
office  in  Calloway  County  jail,  while  Jim 
Nichols  scrutinized  a  formal  looking  document 
his  visitor  had  just  delivered  into  his  hands. 

"It's  all  right,  isn't  it?"  said  the  old  lawyer. 

"Yep."  The  sheriff  thrust  the  paper  into 
a  drawer.  "I'll  fetch  him  right  down." 

"Remember,  don't  give  him  a  hint!"  Old 
Hosie  warned  again.  "You're  sure,"  he  added 
anxiously,  "he  hasn't  got  on  to  anything?" 

"How  many  more  times  have  I  got  to  tell 
you,"  returned  the  sheriff,  a  little  irritated, 
"that  I  ain't  said  a  word  to  him  —  just  as  you 
told  me!  He  heard  some  of  the  racket  last 
night,  sure.  But  he  thought  it  was  just  part 
of  the  regular  campaign  row." 

"All  right!  All  right!  Hurry  him  along 
then!" 

Left  alone,  Old  Hosie  walked  excitedly  up 
and  down  the  dingy  room,  whose  sole  preten- 
sion in  an  aesthetic  way  was  the  breeze-blown 

418 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING         419 

"yachting  girl"  of  a  soap  company's  calendar, 
sailing  her  bounding  craft  above  the  office 
cuspidor. 

The  old  man  grinned  widely,  rubbed  his  bony 
hands  together,  and  a  concatenation  of  low 
chuckles  issued  from  his  lean  throat.  But  when 
Sheriff  Nichols  reappeared,  ushering  in  Arnold 
Bruce,  all  these  outward  manifestations  of 
satisfaction  abruptly  terminated,  and  his  man- 
ner became  his  usual  dry  and  sarcastic  one 
with  his  nephew. 

"Hello,  Arn!"  he  said.     "H'are  you?" 

"Hello I"  Bruce  returned,  rather  gruffly,  shak- 
ing the  hand  his  uncle  held  out.  "What's  this 
the  sheriff  has  just  told  me  about  a  new  trial?" 

"  It's  all  right, "  returned  Old  Hosie.  "We've 
fought  on  till  we've  made  'em  give  it  to  us." 

"What's  the  use  of  it?"  Bruce  growled. 
"The  cards  will  be  stacked  the  same  as  at  the 
other  trial." 

"Well,  whatever  happens,  you're  free  till 
then.  I've  got  you  out  on  bail,  and  I'm  here 
to  take  you  home  with  me.  So  come  along 
with  you." 

Old  Hosie  pushed  him  out  and  down  the 
jail  steps  and  into  a  closed  carriage  that  was 
waiting  at  the  curb.  Bruce  was  in  a  glowering, 
embittered  mood,  as  was  but  natural  in  a  man 
who  keenly  feels  that  he  has  suffered  without 
justice  and  has  lost  all  for  which  he  fought. 


420  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"You  know  I  appreciate  your  working  for 
the  new  trial,"  he  remarked  dully,  as  the  carriage 
rattled  slowly  on.  "How  did  you  manage  it?" 

"It's  too  long  a  story  for  now.  I'll  tell  you 
when  we  get  home. " 

Bruce  was  gloomily  silent  for  a  moment. 

"Of  course  the  Blake  crowd  swept  everything 
at  the  election  to-day?" 

"Well,  on  the  whole,  their  majority  wasn't 
as  big  as  they'd  counted  on,"  returned  Old 
Hosie. 

They  rode  on,  Bruce  sunk  in  his  bitter,  re- 
bellious dejection.  The  carriage  turned  into 
the  street  that  ran  behind  the  Court  House, 
then  after  rattling  over  the  brick  pavement  for 
a  few  moments  came  to  a  pause.  Hosie  opened 
the  door  and  stepped  out. 

"Hello!  what  are  we  stopping  here  for?" 
demanded  Bruce.  "This  is  the  Court  House. 
I  thought  you  said  we  were  going  home?" 

"So  we  are,  so  we  are,"  Old  Hosie  rapidly 
returned,  an  agitation  in  his  manner  that  he 
could  not  wholly  repress.  "But  first  we've  got 
to  go  into  the  Court  House.  Judge  Kellog  is 
waiting  for  us;  there's  a  little  formality  or  two 
about  your  release  we've  got  to  settle  with  him. 
Come  along."  And  taking  his  arm  Old  Hosie 
hurried  him  into  the  Court  House  yard,  allow- 
ing no  time  for  questioning  the  plausibility  of 
this  explanation. 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING  421 

But  suddenly  Bruce  stopped  short. 

"  Look  at  that,  won't  you ! "  he  cried  in  amaze- 
ment. "See  how  the  front  of  the  yard  is 
lighted  up,  and  see  how  it's  jammed  with 
people!  And  there  goes  the  band!  What  the 
dickens " 

At  that  moment  some  one  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  crowd  sighted  the  pair.  "There's  Bruce !" 
he  shouted. 

Immediately  there  was  an  uproar.  "Hurrah 
for  Bruce!  Hurrah  for  Bruce!"  yelled  the 
crowd,  and  began  to  rush  to  the  rear  of  the 
yard,  cheering  as  they  ran. 

Bruce  gripped  Old  Hosie's  arm. 

"What's  this  mean?" 

"It  means  we've  got  to  run  for  it!"  And  so 
saying  the  old  man,  with  a  surprising  burst 
of  speed  left  over  from  his  younger  years, 
dragged  his  nephew  up  the  walk  and  through 
the  rear  door  of  the  Court  House,  which  he 
quickly  locked  upon  their  clamorous  pur- 
suers. 

Bruce  stared  at  his  uncle  in  bewilderment. 

"Hosie  —  Hosie  —  what's  this  mean?" 

The  old  man's  leathery  face  was  twitching 
in  a  manner  remarkable  to  behold. 

"Drat  it,"  he  grumbled,  with  a  quaver  in 
his  voice,  "why  don't  you  read  the  Express 
and  keep  up  with  the  news!" 

"What's  this  mean?"  demanded  Bruce. 


422  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Well,  here's  a  copy  of  your  old  rag.  Read 
it  and  see  for  yourself. " 

Bruce  seized  the  Express  the  old  man  held 
out  to  him.  Up  in  one  corner  were  the  words 
"Election  Extra,"  and  across  the  top  of  the  page 
ran  the  great  headline: 

"BRUCE    TICKET    SWEEPS    CITY" 

Bruce  looked  slowly  up,  stupefied,  and  steadied 
himself  with  a  hand  against  the  door. 

"Is  —  is  that  true?" 

"For  my  part,"  declared  Old  Hosie,  the  qua- 
ver in  his  voice  growing  more  prominent,  "I 
don't  believe  more'n  half  I  see  in  that  dirty 
sheet!" 

"Then  — it's  true?" 

"Don't  you  hear  them  wild  Indians  yelling 
for  Mayor  Bruce?" 

Bruce  was  too  dazed  to  speak  for  a  moment. 

"Tell  me  —  how  did  it  happen?" 

"Oh,  read  your  old  rag  and  see!" 

"For  God's  sake,  Hosie,  don't  fool  with  me!" 
he  cried.  "How  did  it  happen?  Somebody  has 
been  at  work.  Who  did  it?" 

"Eh!    You  really  want  to  know  that?" 

"Yes,  yes!     Who  did  it?" 

"It  was  done,"  said  Old  Hosie,  looking  at 
him  very  straight  and  blinking  his  eyes,  "by 
a  party  that  I  understand  you  thought  couldn't 
do  much  of  anything." 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING  423 

"But  who?    Who?" 

"If  you  really  want  to  know,  the  party's 
name  is  Miss  Katherine  West." 

Bruce's  stupefaction  outdid  itself. 

" Katherine  West!"  he  repeated. 

Old  Hosie  could  maintain  his  role  no  longer. 

"Yes,  Katherine  West!"  he  burst  out  in 
triumphant  joy,  his  words  tumbling  over  one 
another.  "She  did  it  all  —  every  bit  of  it! 
And  that  mob  out  in  front  is  there  to  celebrate 
your  election.  We  knew  how  things  were  going 
to  turn  out,  so  we  were  safe  in  getting  this 
thing  ready  in  advance.  And  I  don't  mind 
telling  you,  young  fellow,  that  this  celebration 
is  just  as  much  for  her  as  it  is  for  you.  The  town 
has  simply  gone  crazy  about  her  and  is  looking 
for  a  chance  to  kiss  her  feet.  She  said  she 
wouldn't  come  to-night,  but  we  all  insisted.  I 
promised  to  bring  her,  and  I've  got  to  be  off. 
So  good-by!" 

Bruce  caught  his  arm. 

"Wait,  Hosie!  Tell  me  what  she  did!  Tell 
me  the  rest!" 

"Read  that  paper  I  gave  you!  And  here,  I 
brought  this  for  you,  too."  He  took  from  his 
inside  pocket  a  copy  of  the  extra  Katherine  and 
Billy  Harper  had  got  out  the  night  before. 
"Those  two  papers  will  tell  you  all  there  is  to 
tell.  And  now,"  he  continued,  opening  a  door 
and  pushing  Bruce  through  it,  "you  just  wait 


424  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

in  there  so  I'll  know  where  to  find  you  when  I 
want  you.  I've  got  to  hustle  for  a  while,  for 
I'm  master  of  ceremonies  of  this  show.  How's 
that  for  your  old  uncle?  It's  the  first  time  I've 
ever  been  connected  with  a  popular  movement 
in  my  life  except  to  throw  bricks  at  it,  and  I 
ain't  so  sure  I  can  stand  popularity  for  one 
whole  night." 

With  that  he  was  gone.  Bruce  recognized 
the  room  into  which  he  had  been  thrust  as  the 
court  room  in  which  he  had  been  tried  and 
sentenced,  in  which  Katherine  had  pleaded  her 
father's  case.  Over  the  judge's  desk,  as  though 
in  expectation  of  his  coming,  a  green-shaded 
drop  lamp  shed  its  cone  of  light.  Bruce 
stumbled  forward  to  the  desk,  sank  into  the 
judge's  chair,  and  began  feverishly  to  devour 
the  two  copies  of  his  paper. 

Billy  Harper,  penitently  sober  and  sworn 
to  sobriety  for  all  his  days,  had  outdone  him- 
self on  that  day's  issue.  He  told  how  the  voters 
crowded  to  the  polls  in  their  eagerness  to  vote 
for  Bruce,  and  he  gave  with  a  tremendous 
exultation  an  estimate  of  Bruce's  majority, 
which  was  so  great  as  to  be  an  almost  unani- 
mous election.  Also  he  told  how  Blind  Charlie 
Peck  had  prudently  caught  last  night's  eleven 
o'clock  express  and  was  now  believed  to  be 
repairing  his  health  down  at  Hot  Springs, 
Arkansas.  Also  he  gave  a  deal  of  inside  history: 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING  425 

told  how  the  extra  had  been  gotten  out  the  night 
before,  with  the  Blake  mass-meeting  going  on 
beneath  the  Express's  windows;  told  of  the 
scene  at  the  home  of  Blake,  and  Blake's  strange 
march  to  jail;  and,  freed  from  the  restraint  of 
Katherine's  presence,  who  would  have  forbidden 
him,  he  told  with  a  world  of  praise  the  story  of 
how  she  had  worked  up  the  case. 

The  election  extra  finished,  Bruce  spread  open 
the  extra  of  the  night  before,  the  paper  that 
had  transferred  him  from  a  prison  cell  to  the 
mayor's  office,  and  read  the  mass  of  Katherine's 
evidence  that  Billy  had  so  stirringly  set  forth. 
Then  the  head  of  the  editor  of  the  Express,  of 
the  mayor  of  Westville,  sank  forward  into  his 
folded  arms  and  he  sat  bowed,  motionless,  upon 
the  judge's  desk. 

A  great  outburst  of  cheering  from  the  crowd, 
though  louder  far  than  those  that  had  pre- 
ceded it,  did  not  disturb  him;  and  he  did  not 
look  up  until  he  heard  the  door  of  the  court 
room  open.  Then  he  saw  that  Old  Hosie  had 
entered,  and  with  him  Katherine. 

"I'll  just  leave  you  two  for  a  minute,"  Old 
Hosie  said  rapidly,  "while  I  go  out  and  start 
things  going  by  introducing  the  Honourable 
Hiram  Cogshell. " 

With  that  the  old  man  took  the  arm  of 
Katherine's  father,  who  had  been  standing  just 
behind,  slipped  through  the  door  and  was  gone. 


426  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

A  moment  later,  from  in  front,  there  arose  a 
succession  of  cheers  for  Doctor  West. 

Bruce  came  slowly  down  from  behind  the 
railing  of  Judge  Kellog's  desk  and  paused 
before  Katherine.  She  was  very  white,  her 
breath  came  with  a  tremulous  irregularity,  and 
she  looked  at  him  with  wide,  wondering,  half- 
fearful  eyes. 

At  first  Bruce  could  not  get  out  a  word,  such 
a  choking  was  there  in  his  throat,  such  a  throb- 
bing and  whirling  through  all  his  being.  He 
dizzily  supported  himself  with  a  hand  upon  the 
back  of  a  bench,  and  stood  and  gazed  at  her. 

It  was  she  that  broke  the  silence. 

"Mr.  Hollingsworth  did  not  tell  me  —  you 
were  here.  I'd  better  go."  And  she  started 
for  the  door. 

"No  —  no  —  don't!"  he  said.  He  drew  a 
step  nearer  her.  "I've  just  read"  —  holding 
up  the  two  papers  —  "what  you  have  done." 

"Mr.  Harper  has  —  has  exaggerated  it  very 
much,"  she  returned.  Her  voice  seemed  to 
come  with  as  great  a  difficulty  as  his  own. 

"And  I  have  read,"  he  continued,  "how 
much  I  owe  you." 

"It's  — it's-  -"  She  did  not  finish  in 
words,  but  a  gesture  disclaimed  all  credit. 

"It  has  made  me.  And  I  want  to  thank 
you,  and  I  do  thank  you.  And  I  do  thank 
you,"  he  repeated  lamely. 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING  427 

She  acknowledged  his  gratitude  with  an  in- 
clination of  her  head.  Motions  came  easier 
than  words. 

"And  since  I  owe  it  all  to  you,  since  I  owe 
nothing  to  any  political  party,  I  want  to  tell 
you  that  I  am  going  to  try  to  make  the  very 
best  mayor  that  I  can!" 

"I  am  sure  of  that,"  she  said. 

"I  realize  that  it's  not  going  to  be  easy," 
he  went  on.  "The  people  seem  to  be  with  me 
now,  thanks  to  you  —  but  as  soon  as  I  try  to 
carry  out  my  ideas,  I  know  that  both  parties 
will  rise  up  and  unite  against  me.  The  big 
fight  is  still  ahead.  But  since  —  since  you  have 
done  it  all  —  I  want  you  to  know  that  I  am 
going  to  fight  straight  ahead  for  the  people,  no 
matter  what  happens  to  me." 

"I  know,"  she  said. 

"My  eyes  have  been  opened  to  many  things 
about  politics,"  he  added. 

She  did  not  speak. 

Silence  fell  between  them;  the  room  was 
infiltered  by  a  multitudinous  hum  from  without. 
Presently  the  thought,  and  with  it  the  fear,  that 
had  been  rising  up  stronger  and  stronger  in  Bruce 
for  the  last  half  hour,  forced  itself  through  his  lips. 

"I  suppose  that  now — you'll  be  going  back 
to  New  York?" 

"No.  I  have  had  several  cases  offered  me 
to-day.  I  am  going  to  stay  in  Westville." 


428  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

"Oh!"  he  said  —  and  was  conscious  of  a 
dizzy  relief.  Then,  "I  wish  you  success." 

"Thank  you." 

Again  there  was  a  brief  silence,  both  standing 
and  looking  in  constraint  at  one  another. 

"This  celebration  is  very  trying,  isn't  it?" 
she  said.  "I  suppose  we  might  sit  down  while 
we  wait." 

"Yes." 

They  each  took  the  end  of  a  different  bench, 
and  rather  stiffly  sat  gazing  into  the  shadowy 
severity  of  the  big  room.  Sounding  from  the 
front  of  the  Court  House  they  heard  rather 
vaguely  the  deep-chested,  sonorous  rhetoric 
of  the  Honourable  Hiram. 

But  they  heard  it  for  but  an  instant.  Sud- 
denly the  court  room  door  flew  open  and  Old 
Hosie  marched  straight  up  before  them. 

"You're  the  dad-blastedest  pair  of  idiots 
I  ever  saw!"  he  burst  out,  with  an  exaspera- 
tion that  was  not  an  entire  success,  for  it  was 
betrayed  by  a  little  quaver. 

They  stood  up. 

"What's  the  matter?"  stammered  Bruce. 

"Matter?"  cried  Old  Hosie.  "What  d'you 
suppose  I  left  you  two  people  here  together 
for?" 

"You  said  you  had  to  start >: 

"Well,  couldn't  I  have  another  and  a  bigger 
reason?  I've  been  listening  outside  the  door 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING  429 

here,  and  the  way  you  people  have  acted! 
See  here,  you  two  know  you  love  one  another, 
and  yet  you  act  toward  each  other  like  a  pair  of 
tame  icebergs  that  have  just  been  introduced!" 

He  turned  in  a  fury  upon  his  nephew,  blink- 
ing to  keep  the  moisture  from  his  eyes. 

"Don't  you  love  her?"  he  demanded,  point- 
ing to  Katherine,  who  had  suddenly  grown  yet 
more  pale. 

"Why  —  yes  —  yes >: 

"Then  why  in  the  name  of  God  don't  you 
tell  her  so?" 

"  I'm  —  I'm  afraid  she  won't  care  to  hear  it, " 
stammered  Bruce,  not  daring  to  look  at  Kath- 
erine. 

"Tell  her  so,  and  see  what  she  says,"  shouted 
Old  Hosie.  "How  else  are  you  going  to  find 
out?  Tell  her  what  a  fool  you've  been.  Tell 
her  she's  proved  to  you  you're  all  wrong  about 
what  you  thought  she  ought  to  do.  Tell  her 
unless  you  get  some  one  of  sense  to  help  run 
you,  you're  going  to  make  an  all-fired  mess  of 
this  mayor's  job.  Tell  her"  —  there  was  a 
choking  in  his  voice  —  "oh,  boy,  just  tell  her 
what  you  feel ! 

"And  now,"  he  added  quickly,  and  again 
sharply,  "that  mob  outside  won't  listen  to  the 
Honourable  Hiram  much  longer.  They  want 
you  folks.  I  give  you  just  two  minutes  to  fix 
things  up.  Two  minutes  —  no  more!" 


430  COUNSEL  FOR  THE  DEFENSE 

And  pulling  his  high  hat  down  upon  his  fore- 
head, Old  Hosie  turned  abruptly  and  again  left 
the  room. 

Bruce  looked  slowly  about  upon  Katherine. 
His  rugged,  powerful  face  was  working  with 
emotion. 

"What  Uncle  Hosie  has  said  is  all  true," 
he  stammered  fearfully.  "You  know  I  love  you, 
Katherine.  And  there  isn't  anything  you'll 
want  to  do  that  I'll  not  be  glad  to  have  you  do. 
Won't  you  forget,  Katherine,  and  won't  you  — 
won't  you " 

He  stretched  out  his  arms  to  her.  "Oh, 
Katherine!"  he  cried.  "I  love  you!  I  want  you! 
I  need  you!" 

While  he  spoke  her  face  had  grown  radiant. 
"And  I  —  and  I  " —  she  choked,  then  her  voice 
went  on  with  an  uprush  of  happiness  —  "and  I 
—  oh,  Arnold,  I  need  you!" 

When  Old  Hosie  reentered  a  minute  later 
and  saw  what  there  was  to  be  seen,  he  let  out  a 
little  cry  of  joy  and  swooped  down  upon  them. 

"Look  out,  Katherine, "  he  warned,  quaver- 
ingly,  "for  I'm  going  to  kiss  you!"  But  despite 
this  warning  the  old  man  succeeded  in  his  en- 
terprise. "This  is  great!  —  great!"  he  cried, 
shaking  a  hand  of  each.  "But  we'll  have  to 
cut  this  hallelujah  business  short  till  that  little 
picnic  outside  is  over.  I  just  pulled  the  Hon- 


THE  END  OF  THE  BEGINNING  431 

curable  Hiram  down  —  and,  say,  just  listen  to 
that  roar!" 

A  roar  it  was  indeed.  Of  a  bursting  brass 
band,  of  thousands  of  eager  people. 

"And  who  do  you  suppose  they're  shouting 
for?"  inquired  the  joyous  Hosie. 

Katherine  smiled  a  tear-bright  smile  at  Bruce. 

"For  the  new  mayor,"  she  said. 

"No,  no!    All  for  you!"  said  he. 

"Well,  come  on  and  we'll  see  who  it's  for!" 
cried  Old  Hosie. 

And  taking  an  arm  of  each  he  led  them  out  to 
face  the  cheering  multitude. 


THE    END 


THE  COUNTRY  LIFE    PRESS 
GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


y»  "        (I     II  I     | 


